Table 1. Characteristics of included patients and sputum specimen results for diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis.

Variables	Values
Patients, No.	77
Sputum specimens, No.	228
mean (±SD)	2.96 (±0.49)
Age, median (range)	55 (18-88)
Male, No. (%)	54 (70.1)
History of tuberculosis, No. (%)	27 (35.1)
History of smoking, No. (%)
Non-smoker	48 (62.3)
Current smoker	18 (23.4)
Ex-smoker	11 (14.3)
Cavitary lesion in X-ray/CT	20(26.0)
Positive TB culture
Sputum, No. (%)	78 (34.2)
Patients, No. (%)	31 (40.3)
Positive AFB smear
Sputum, No. (%)	58 (25.4)
Patients, No. (%)	25 (32.5)

TB, tuberculosis; AFB, acid-fact bacilli; SD, standard deviation.