Determinants of delays in diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis in a new urban township in India: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: The period of infectiousness of a new sputum smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis case is important in determining the risk of exposure faced by the community. Early detection and effective treatment of TB case reduces the period of transmission and the risk of exposure of the community. It is for this reason that the delay in TB diagnosis and treatment should be minimal to control disease transmission and patient suffering. Aims & Objective: To measure delays in diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, and to identify and assess the risk factors associated with these delays. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted of all new smear-positive pulmonary TB patients diagnosed between January 2012 and June 2013 at RNTCP clinic. The time from the onset of symptoms to first health care consultation (patient delay) and the time from first health care consultation to the date of TB diagnosis (health system delay) were analysed. Bivariate and logistics regression were applied to analyse the risk factors of delays. Results: A total of 122 patients with a mean age of 29.9 years were included in the study. Mean total delay between the onset of symptoms and treatment initiation was 53.42 days (median 50, range 14-128), with a mean patient delay of 29.24 days (median 25, range 5-94) and mean health system delay of 21.7 days (median 17, range 3-93). The mean treatment delay was 2.48 days (median 2, range 1-6). Factors independently associated with total delay were cough symptom (OR 3.36, P = 0.038), completed secondary school (OR 0.41, P = 0.018), good knowledge of TB symptoms (OR 0.39, P = 0.011), first visit to a public health facility (OR 0.45, P = 0.044), sputum testing at first health care consultation (OR 0.46, P = 0.048) and stigma attached to TB disease (OR 2.89, P = 0.021). Those associated with patient delay were male sex (OR 0.42, P = 0.020), large family size (OR 2.30, P = 0.027), completed secondary school (OR 0.43, P = 0.025) and good knowledge of TB symptoms (OR 0.45, P = 0.029); while those associated with health system delay were first visit to a public health facility (OR 0.31, P = 0.006), sputum testing at first health care consultation (OR 0.22, P = 0.001), number of health care consultations (OR 4.41, P < 0.001) and pre-diagnosis health care cost (OR 3.35, P = 0.001). Conclusion: Health system delay was an important problem in the area studied, with patient delay being of most concern.

Durations and Delays in Care Seeking, Diagnosis and Treatment Initiation in Uncomplicated Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients in Mumbai, India

“…[ 16 ] Four studies on delays have been conducted in Mumbai in the last 5 years. [ 15 , 17 , 18 , 19 ] Most of these studies were conducted at facilities under the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP). Such studies may be prone to respondent bias, and furthermore miss out patients seeking care in the heterogeneous private sector consisting of formal and non-formal providers, where more than 60% of patients in India seek health care.…”

“…Mumbai is among the first cities in the country to have public-private mix (PPM) interventions started under the RNTCP. [ 23 ] However despite these efforts in the past decade, the latest studies from India continue to document significant delays in TB diagnosis and treatment initiation [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Our study was conducted as a baseline situational analysis for a Public-Private Interface Agency (PPIA) intervention planned to be implemented in Mumbai.…”

Treatment Delay among Smear Positive Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients in South Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The median delay was lower than the estimate in India [9], Afghanistan [8], Kathmandu in Nepal [14], Brazil [10], Indonesia [16] and West Midland in England [17]. This difference emanates from only new smear positive pulmonary TB patients in Nepal, Brazil and Afghanistan partly.…”

“…Increased distance requires additional cost for transportation which hinders the patient to visit health facility as early as possible [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. As it is known as the most important risk factor for TB, smoking cigarette also increases the delay for diagnosis and treatment as compared to non-smokers and ex-smokers [14].…”

Proportion and determinants of delay in diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in a tertiary care centre of Gadag, Karnataka

“…In the study conducted in urban township of Maharashtra state, a mean patient delay of 29.24 days and mean health system delay of 21.7 days was found. 8 This shows that the patients living in and around the tertiary care center of Gadag have some awareness about the symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis while the people living in urban township of Maharashtra may be less educated and unaware of the symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis.…”