The early detection of Tuberculosis (TB) among TB contacts is a strategy to find TB cases in earlier stage and to stop the transmission. This study aimed to assess the implementation of early detection in TB contact investigation to improve TB case finding. This was an operational research study conducted in Badung District, Bali, Indonesia. The samples were TB contacts, identified in the period July through September (third quarter) 2017. Contacts were household members who were living and sharing a room at least for 3 months with infectious TB patients and were not previously diagnosed with TB. Data were collected through face-to-face interview using structured questionnaires and registration reviews using a checklist. We visited 124 TB patients and successfully identified 498 contacts, thus the ratio of contacts to cases is 4:1. All TB contacts were invited to participate in TB screening and evaluation program. A total of 100 (20.1%) contacts have attended at least one examination session and 41 contacts have completed all sessions. Ten TB cases were found among the contacts, of which four of them were adults (three bacteriologically confirmed and one clinically confirmed) and six were children (aged under 15 years). The positivity rate among children was higher (46.2%) compared with adults (14.3%). The positivity rate of confirmed TB among contacts with any TB symptoms was 43.8% and that without symptoms was 12.0%. The contribution of early detection in TB contact investigation to improve TB case finding was 8.1% through all TB patients. The early detection in TB contact investigation yielded additional notified cases, especially among children. A comprehensive education, covering cognitive and psychological aspect, is needed to encourage TB contacts to completely participate in early detection program until their diagnosis is confirmed.

Lack of participation of household contacts is the main problem of early detection of tuberculosis (TB) in Indonesia. A comprehensive health education (CHE) program has been developed to encourage the participation of household contacts. This study aimed to assess the implementation of the CHE to improve participation of household contacts in early detection of TB. This was a quasi-experimental study conducted between November 2018 and June 2019 in Badung District, Bali, Indonesia. Twelve public health centers (PHCs) were randomly allocated to six PHCs implementing the CHE and six PHCs implementing standard health education (SHE). The CHE was developed through a pilot study using the health belief model supplemented with perceived stigma and social support to identify the factors that influence participation. The participation was measured using a TB register with a cross-check to the health care officer until 2 months after health education was provided. Four hundred and twenty-eight household contacts enrolled in this study—216 in the CHE group and 212 in the SHE group. The CHE group’s participation was 28.2%, with 10 new TB cases found; in the SHE group, the participation was 15.6%, with 3 new TB cases found. The CHE increased the household contact participation by 1.83-fold (95% confidence interval [1.19, 2.81]) and case findings by 3.13-fold (95% confidence interval [0.85, 11.56]). The CHE implementation should be scaled up to other areas with a high level of TB transmission. The content and technique of the CHE could also be incorporated in contact investigation guidelines and materials for the TB campaign.

Background and purpose: The national tuberculosis (TB) prevalence study showed that between 2013 and 2014 there was significant proportion of pulmonary TB patients received treatment from private healthcare facilities. Data from Bali Province and Badung District Health Offices revealed that of all suspected TB patients only a few were referred by their private general practitioner. A reward system was created in 2012 by providing credit points to every referral made by the private general practitioner. This study aims to examine association between the reward system, national health insurance scheme and willingness to refer suspected TB patients.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from February to April 2017. A total of 111 private general practitioners who practice at Badung District were interviewed. In addition, medical record from these private general practitioners were also examined.Results: Our study found that as many as 55 (45.95%) of private general practitioners had ever referred suspected TB patients over the last year. The total suspected TB patient being reffered in the last year was 132 cases. A cross checking with the laboratory data revealed that only 47 cases (35.61%) presented at referral laboratory facilities. Multivariate analysis showed that the willingness of private general practitioners to refer suspected TB patient was associated to reward system (AOR=4.62; 95%CI: 1.23-17.32) and supervision from TB officials (AOR=13.07; 95%CI: 3.78-45.13). The enrollment of private general practitioners as a primary healthcare facility under the national insurance scheme was not associated with the willingness to refer suspected TB patients.Conclusions: About half of the private general practitioners have ever referred a suspected TB patient. Supervision from TB officials and a reward system in terms of credit points were associated with the willingness to refer suspected TB patients. Ongoing supervision, providing credit points, and improving referral systems are required to improve case findings and referral of suspected TB patients by private general practitioners.