Diagnosis delays of smear- negative pulmonary tuberculosis patients in a municipality and some hospitals of Havana

[摘要] Introduction: The tuberculosis is supported like a problem of important world health, associated with determinants socioeconomic.Objective: To estimate the diagnosis delay of smear- negative cases of pulmonary Tuberculosis in a municipality and several hospitals of Havana.Methods: Descriptive Audit study in nine Clinical Surgical hospitals of Havana (July, 2004 - June, 2005) and in the Boyeros municipality (2003-2011). Data on age, delays both attributable to patients and the health service (days) as total delay.Results: In the hospitals the median total delay was 194 days for the smear- negative, with culture + pulmonary Tuberculosis (TBp cult +), while for the xR pTB positive (pTB RC) the total median delay was 71 days. In Boyeros the delay attributable to patients the smear -/culture positive pulmonary tuberculosis had a median of 102 days, whereas for the confirmatory diagnosis it reached 54 days. For the xR TB positive delay was 18 and 36 days for both attributable to patients and the service respectively. Major delay exists in concluding the diagnosis of the patients 60 years and over.Conclusion: An early diagnosis would save time by the beginning of the treatment and would prepare additionally the transmission of the TB in the evaluated context.

[学科分类] 传染病学

[关键词] tuberculosis;delay for diagnosis;surveillance;control;Cuba