Table 1.
Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of the Patients, Diagnosis Group at Enrollment, and Distribution in Final Diagnostic Category.*
| Variable | Lima, Peru (N=341) | Baku, Azerbaijan (N = 353) | Cape Town, South Africa (N = 380) | Durban, South Africa (N = 346) | Mumbai, India (N = 310) | All Patients (N = 1730) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic or clinical characteristic | ||||||
| Median age (range) — yr | 31 (18–79) | 37 (20–69) | 36 (18–80) | 32 (18–68) | 30 (17–88) | 34 (17–88) |
| Female sex — no./total no. (%) | 138/319 (43.3) | 0/251 | 119/349 (34.1) | 186/313 (59.4) | 90/230 (39.1) | 533/1462 (36.5) |
| HIV infection — no./total no. (%) | 3/179 (1.7) | 9/193 (4.7) | 159/209 (76.1) | 217/304 (71.4) | 4/91 (4.4) | 392/976 (40.2) |
| History of tuberculosis — no./total no. (%) | 75/316 (23.7) | 137/251 (54.6) | 148/344 (43.0) | 138/306 (45.1) | 173/230 (75.2) | 671/1447 (46.4) |
| Diagnosis group at enrollment | ||||||
| Suspicion of pulmonary tuberculosis — no./total no. (%) | 293/341 (85.9) | 131/353 (37.1) | 223/380 (58.7) | 272/346 (78.6) | 91/310 (29.4) | 1010/1730 (58.4) |
| Suspicion of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis not receiving therapy — no./total no. (%) | 41/341 (12.0) | 149/353 (42.2) | 136/380 (35.8) | 59/346 (17.1) | 60/310 (19.4) | 445/1730 (25.7) |
| Suspicion of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis receiving therapy — no./total no. (%) | 7/341 (2.1) | 73/353 (20.7) | 21/380 (5.5) | 15/346 (4.3) | 159/310 (51.3) | 275/1730 (15.9) |
| Distribution in final diagnostic category | ||||||
| Smear- and culture-positive tuberculosis — no./total no. (%) | 199/341 (58.4) | 80/353 (22.7) | 96/380 (25.3) | 30/346 (8.7) | 162/310 (52.3) | 567/1730 (32.8) |
| Smear-negative and culture-positive tuberculosis — no./total no. (%) | 12/341 (3.5) | 69/353 (19.5) | 52/380 (13.7) | 15/346 (4.3) | 26/310 (8.4) | 174/1730 (10.1) |
| Clinical tuberculosis — no./total no. (%) | 6/341 (1.8) | 32/353 (9.1) | 12/380 (3.2) | 49/346 (14.2) | 6/310 (1.9) | 105/1730 (6.1) |
| No tuberculosis — no./total no. (%) | 102/341 (29.9) | 70/353 (19.8) | 189/380 (49.7) | 219/346 (63.3) | 36/310 (11.6) | 616/1730 (35.6) |
| Indeterminate — no./total no. (%) | 22/341 (6.5) | 102/353 (28.9) | 31/380 (8.2) | 33/346 (9.5) | 80/310 (25.8) | 268/1730 (15.5) |
| Culture-negative disease with suspected multidrug resistance receiving therapy | 2/22 (9.1) | 51/102 (50.0) | 3/31 (9.7) | 10/33 (30.3) | 49/80 (61.3) | 115/268 (42.9) |
| Contamination of ≥3 of 4 cultures | 0/22 | 28/102 (27.5)† | 0/31 | 0/33 | 0/80 | 28/268 (10.4) |
| Single culture positive with >28 days (MGIT) or <20 colonies (LJ) | 0/22 | 0/102 | 3/31 (9.7) | 2/33 (6.1) | 2/80 (2.5) | 7/268 (2.6) |
| Smear-positive, culture-negative tuberculosis | 14/22 (63.6) | 5/102 (4.9) | 4/31 (12.9) | 12/33 (36.4) | 4/80 (5.0) | 39/268 (14.6) |
| Nontuberculous mycobacteria only | 2/22 (9.1) | 4/102 (3.9) | 1/31 (3.2) | 2/33 (6.1) | 14/80 (17.5) | 23/268 (8.6) |
| Discrepant phenotypic drug-susceptibility testing | 2/22 (9.1) | 5/102 (4.9) | 2/31 (6.5) | 0/33 | 1/80 (1.3) | 10/268 (3.7) |
| Death or loss to follow-up | 2/22 (9.1) | 9/102 (8.8) | 18/31 (58.1) | 7/33 (21.2) | 10/80 (12.5) | 46/268 (17.2) |
*
HIV denotes human immunodeficiency virus, LJ Löwenstein–Jensen, and MGIT mycobacteria growth indicator tube.
†
In Azerbaijan, there was a delay of up to 8 days between sputum collection and processing because of air transport to the laboratory in Germany, which resulted in an overall culture contamination rate of 13.9%, as compared with less than 2% for other sites.