Table 1. Characteristics of people newly-diagnosed with, and retreated for, tuberculosis, Malawi, 2010–2011.
| Characteristic | New cases (n = 1196) |
Retreatment cases (n = 581) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % (95% CI) | No. | % (95% CI) | ||
| Mean age (years) | 1196 | 35.6 (34.8–36.4) | 581 | 36.4 (35.5–37.4) | |
| Sex (% male) | 1196 | 53.7 (50.8–56.5) | 581 | 60.6 (56.6–64.6) | |
| Marital status (%) | |||||
| Married | 750 | 63.2 (60.5–66.0) | 346 | 60.3 (56.3–64.3) | |
| Single | 232 | 19.6 (17.3–21.8) | 106 | 18.5 (15.3–21.7) | |
| Divorced | 103 | 8.7 (7.1–10.3) | 70 | 12.2 (9.5–14.9) | |
| Widowed | 101 | 8.5 (6.9–10.1) | 52 | 9.1 (6.7–11.4) | |
| Occupation (%) | |||||
| Business | 226 | 19.5 (17.2–21.8) | 120 | 21.1 (17.8–24.5) | |
| Formal employment | 195 | 16.8 (14.7–19.0) | 126 | 22.2 (18.8–25.6) | |
| Subsistence farmer | 330 | 28.4 (25.8–31.0) | 148 | 26.1 (22.4–29.7) | |
| Unemployed | 409 | 35.3 (32.5–38.0) | 174 | 30.6 (26.8–34.4) | |
| Educational level achieved (%) | |||||
| Tertiary | 23 | 2.0 (1.2–2.8) | 13 | 2.3 (1.0–3.5) | |
| Secondary | 262 | 22.5 (20.1–24.9) | 171 | 29.9 (26.1–33.7) | |
| Primary | 729 | 62.6 (59.8–65.4) | 319 | 55.8 (51.7–59.9) | |
| None | 151 | 13.0 (11.0–14.9) | 69 | 12.1 (9.4–14.7) | |
| HIV status (%) | |||||
| Positive | 577 | 48.2 (45.4–51.1) | 386 | 66.4 (62.6–70.3) | |
| Negative | 474 | 39.6 (36.9–42.4) | 165 | 28.4 (24.7–32.1) | |
| Unknown | 145 | 12.1 (9.4–14.8) | 30 | 5.2 (2.6–7.7) | |
| Region of residence (%) | |||||
| Northern | 115 | 9.6 (7.9–11.3) | 85 | 14.6 (11.8–17.5) | |
| Central west | 283 | 23.7 (21.3–26.1) | 108 | 18.6 (15.4–21.8) | |
| Central east | 135 | 11.3 (9.5–13.1) | 46 | 7.9 (5.7–10.1) | |
| South-west | 359 | 30.0 (27.4–32.6) | 207 | 35.6 (31.7–39.5) | |
| South-east | 304 | 25.4 (22.9–27.9) | 135 | 23.2 (19.8–26.7) | |
| Outcome of previous treatment (%) | |||||
| Cureda | NA | NA | 389 | 67.0 (63.1–70.8) | |
| Completedb | NA | NA | 104 | 17.9 (14.8–21.0) | |
| Defaultedc | NA | NA | 49 | 8.4 (6.2–10.7) | |
| Failedd | NA | NA | 31 | 5.3 (3.5–7.2) | |
| Unknown | NA | NA | 8 | 1.4 (0.4–2.3) | |
| Smear score (%)e | |||||
| Scanty | 101 | 8.6 (7.0–10.2) | 66 | 11.6 (8.9–14.2) | |
| 1+ | 135 | 11.5 (9.6–13.3) | 66 | 11.6 (8.9–14.2) | |
| 2+ | 295 | 25.0 (22.6–27.5) | 115 | 20.1 (16.8–23.4) | |
| 3+ | 647 | 54.9 (52.1–57.8) | 324 | 56.7 (52.7–60.8) | |
CI: confidence interval; HIV: human immunodeficiency virus; NA: not applicable.
a Cured defined as a smear-positive patient who was smear-negative at, or one month before, treatment completion and on at least one previous occasion.12
b Treatment completed defined as a patient who completed treatment but without smear microscopy proof of cure.12
c Defaulted defined as treatment interruption for two consecutive months or more.12
d Failed defined as remaining smear-positive when tested five or six months after initiation of previous treatment.12
e Smear scores indicate the density of acid-fast bacilli seen on a sputum smear.13
Note: Data are missing for some characteristics. The sum of the percentages for some characteristics may not equal 100 due to rounding.