Sputum smear-positive TB patients, diagnosed in the laboratory, who never start anti-TB treatment are classified as 'initial defaulters'. In Ridge Hospital, Accra, Ghana, there were 84 laboratory confirmed TB cases in 2009, of whom 32 (38%) were initial defaulters. Cure and default rates based on this cohort were 54% and 43% respectively, compared with rates of 87% and 8% when using the cohort based on 52 patients registered for treatment. This study highlights the problem of initial defaulters, and shows that programme performance may be poor when patients in laboratory registers are used as the cohort to evaluate treatment outcomes.

BackgroundMeticulous identification and investigation of patients presenting with tuberculosis (TB) suggestive symptoms rarely happen in crowded outpatient departments (OPDs). Making health providers in OPDs diligently follow screening procedures may help increase TB case detection. From July 2010 to December 2013, two symptom based TB screening approaches of varying cough duration were used to screen and test for TB among general outpatients, PLHIV, diabetics and contacts in Accra, Ghana.MethodsThis study was a retrospective analysis comparing the yield of TB cases using two different screening approaches, allocated to selected public health facilities. In the first approach, the conventional 2 weeks cough duration with or without other TB suggestive symptoms was the criterion to test for TB in attendants of 7 general OPDs. In the second approach the screening criteria cough of >24 hours, as well as a history of at least one of the following symptoms: fever, weight loss and drenching night sweats were used to screen and test for TB among attendants of 3 general OPDs, 7 HIV clinics and 2 diabetes clinics. Contact investigation was initiated for index TB patients. The facilities documented the number of patients verbally screened, with presumptive TB, tested using smear microscopy and those diagnosed with TB in order to calculate the yield and number needed to screen (NNS) to find one TB case. Case notification trends in Accra were compared to those of a control area.ResultsIn the approach using >24-hour cough, significantly more presumptive TB cases were identified among outpatients (0.82% versus 0.63%), more were tested (90.1% versus 86.7%), but less smear positive patients were identified among those tested (8.0% versus 9.4%). Overall, all forms of TB cases identified per 100,000 screened were significantly higher in the >24-hour cough approach at OPD (92.7 for cough >24 hour versus 82.7 for cough >2 weeks ), and even higher in diabetics (364), among contacts (693) and PLHIV (995). NNS (95% Confidence Interval) varied from 100 (93-109) for PLHIV, 144 (112-202) for contacts, 275 (197-451) for diabetics and 1144 (1101-1190) for OPD attendants. About 80% of the TB cases were detected in general OPDs. Despite the intervention, notifications trends were similar in the intervention and control areas.ConclusionThe >24-hour cough approach yielded more TB cases though required TB testing for a larger number of patients. The yield of TB cases per 100,000 population screened was highest among PLHIV, contacts, and diabetics, but the majority of cases were detected in general OPDs. The intervention had no discernible impact on general case notification.

Purpose Within human services, client satisfaction is highly prioritised and considered a mark of responsiveness in service delivery. A large body of research has examined the concept of satisfaction from the perspective of service users. However, not much is known about how service providers construct client satisfaction. The purpose of this paper is to throw light on healthcare professionals' perspectives on patient satisfaction, using tuberculosis (TB) clinics as a case study. Design/methodology/approach In-depth interviews were conducted with 35 TB clinic supervisors purposively sampled from six out of the ten regions of Ghana. An unstructured interview guide was employed. The recorded IDIs were transcribed, edited and entered into QSR NVivo 10.0 and analysed inductively. Findings Respondents defined service satisfaction as involving education/counselling (on drugs, nature of condition, sputum production, caregivers and contacts of patients), patient follow-up, assignment of reliable treatment supporters as well as being attentive and receptive to patients, service availability (e.g. punctuality at work, availability of commodities), positive assurances about disease prognosis and respect for patients. Practical implications Complementing opinions of health service users with those of providers can offer key performance improvement areas for health managers. Originality/value To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is a first study that has examined healthcare providers' views on what makes their clients satisfied with the services they provide.

BackgroundGhana has not conducted a national tuberculin survey or tuberculosis prevalence survey since the establishment of the National Tuberculosis Control Programme. The primary objective of this study was therefore to determine the prevalence of tuberculin skin sensitivity in Ghanaian school children aged 6-10 years in 8 out of 10 regions of Ghana between 2004 and 2006.MethodsTuberculin survey was conducted in 179 primary schools from 21 districts in 8 regions. Schools were purposively selected so as to reflect the proportion of affluent private and free tuition public schools as well as the proportion of small and large schools.ResultsOf the 24,778 children registered for the survey, 23,600 (95.2%) were tested of which 21,861 (92.6%) were available for reading. The age distribution showed an increase in numbers of children towards older age: 11% of the children were 6 years and 25%, 10 years. Females were 52.5% and males 47.5%. The proportion of girls was higher in all age groups (range 51.4% to 54.0%, p < 0.001). BCG scar was visible in 89.3% of the children. The percentage of children with a BCG scar differed by district and by age. The percentage of children with a BCG scar decreased with increasing age in all districts, reflecting increasing BCG vaccination coverage in Ghana in the last ten years. The risk of tuberculosis infection was low in the northern savannah zones compared to the southern coastal zones. Using a cut-off of 15 mm, the prevalence of infection ranged from 0.0% to 5.4% and the Annual Risks of Tuberculosis Infection 0.0% to 0.6%. There was an increase in the proportion of infected children after the age of 7 years. Children attending low and middle-class schools had a higher risk of infection than children attending upper-class schools.ConclusionTuberculosis infection is still a public health problem in Ghana and to monitor the trend, the survey needs to be repeated at 5 years interval.

BackgroundThe End TB Strategy calls for systematic screening of selected high-risk groups including contacts of tuberculosis (TB) cases to facilitate early TB case detection. Contact investigation is not usually routinely practiced in low TB burden countries, such as Ghana, with consequent paucity of data on the yield of TB case detection from such interventions. This study’s objective was to document the outcomes and feasibility of implementing contact investigation activities under programmatic conditions in Ghana.MethodsRetrospective analyses were conducted of abstracted data from the National TB Program, following a contact investigation intervention for TB cases diagnosed in 10 facilities in Accra from June 2010 to December 2014. Various proportions and yield from number of contacts needed to screen (NNS) and number needed to test (NNT) to detect a TB case were assessed.ResultsOverall, out of the 8519 listed contacts of 3267 index cases, 8166 (96%) were screened and 614 (7.5%) were identified as presumptive TB. Out of these, 438 (71%) underwent sputum smear microscopy/evaluation and 53 TB cases were diagnosed. Of these, 56.6% were males, and 49% had sputum smear-positive TB, 38% had sputum smear-negative TB, and 7% had extra-pulmonary TB. The NNS and NNT to detect a TB case of all forms were 154 and 8, respectively. The proportion of TB cases with contacts listed and proportion of contacts screened annually were 88–96% and 83–100%, respectively. The proportion of presumptive TB cases tested and proportion of TB cases diagnosed among contacts tested that were 100% and 36%, respectively, in 2010 dropped to 40% and 14%, respectively, by 2014.ConclusionsThe study demonstrates that contact identification and prioritization components of a contact investigation were feasible, but overall yield of TB cases may have been lower due to the declining rate of clinical evaluation of presumptive TB contacts over time. Addressing barriers to accessing appropriate diagnostic tests may enhance yield from contact investigation in Ghana.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s40249-018-0396-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.