Table 1. Use of Botswana National Tuberculosis Program guidelines to diagnose smear negative Tuberculosis.
| Records review (n = 281) | Clinicians’ self-report (n = 7) n (%) | ||||
| Guideline | Inpatient(n = 128) n (%) | Outpatient(n = 153) n (%) | Overall(n = 281) n(%) | ||
| Number of smear-negative sputum results (Guideline is three) | None | 76 (59.4%) | 56 (36.6%) | 132 (47.0%) | Guideline considered |
| Sometimes: 7 (100%) | |||||
| Always: 0 (0%) | |||||
| One | 20 (15.6%) | 30 (19.6%) | 50 (17.8%) | ||
| Two | 11 (8.6%) | 24 (15.7%) | 35 (12.5%) | ||
| Three | 21 (16.4%) | 43 (28.1%) | 64 (22.8%) | ||
| Period of coughing before TB treatment (Guideline is at least two weeks) | Not specified | 48 (37.5%) | 66 (43.1%) | 114 (40.6%) | Guideline considered |
| Sometimes: 3 (42.9%) | |||||
| Always: 4 (57.1%) | |||||
| <Two weeks | 11 (8.6%) | 8 (5.2%) | 19 (6.8%) | ||
| ≥Two weeks | 69 (53.9%) | 79 (51.6%) | 148 (52.7%) | ||
| Trial of antibiotics | No | 29 (22.7%) | No provision on the card | Recorded for inpatients only | Trial considered |
| Sometimes: 1 (14.3%) | |||||
| Always: 6 (85.7%) | |||||
| Yes | 99 (77.3%) | No provision on the card | Recorded for inpatients only | ||
| Use of CXR | No | 1 (0.8%) | 0 (00.0%) | 1 (0.4%) | All seven (100%) always request a CXR |
| Diagnosis based on CXR | |||||
| Sometimes: 4 (57.1%) | |||||
| Always: 2 (28.6%) | |||||
| Never: 1 (14.3%) | |||||
| Yes | 127 (99.2%): | 153 (100%) | 280 (99.6%) | ||
| Results of CXR | |||||
| Typical PTB: 115 (41.1%) | |||||
| Othera: 155 (55.4%) | |||||
| Normal: 10 (3.6%) | |||||
a
Includes “haze features”, “multiple patchy opacities”, “hilar patch infiltrates”, “fluffy infiltrates”, “severe lesions with consolidation”, “bilateral extensive infiltrates”, etc.