Table 2. Point-of-care testing practices and preferences among private practitioners currently using any POC tests by patient volume in Chennai.
| Point-of-Care Testing Preferences | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | Total (n = 110) n(%) | ≤12 Patients (n = 53) n(%) | >12 Patients (n = 57) n(%) | P* |
| Practitioner level of training | ||||
| MBBS/MS/MD (Non-chest specialty) | 102 (93) | 52 (98) | 50 (88) | 0.06 |
| MD (Chest/Pulmonary specialty) | 8 (7) | 1 (2) | 7 (12) | |
| Type of facility | ||||
| Private hospital or nursing home | 55 (50) | 20 (38) | 35 (61) | 0.02 |
| Private standalone clinic or polyclinic* | 55 (50) | 33 (62) | 22 (39) | |
| Number of tests per month | ||||
| Median [IQR] | 38 [15–100] | 20 [15–55] | 75 [30–120] | <0.001 |
| Time to get test results (minutes) | ||||
| Median [IQR] | 5 [3–5] | 5 [4–5] | 5 [3–5] | 0.30 |
| Staff performing test | ||||
| Practitioner/Doctor | 50 (45) | 29 (55) | 21 (37) | 0.06 |
| Support Staff/Nurse | 60 (55) | 24 (45) | 36 (63) | |
| Staff interpreting test results | ||||
| Practitioner/Doctor | 98 (89) | 45 (85) | 53 (93) | 0.23 |
| Support Staff/Nurse | 12 (11) | 8 (15) | 4 (7) | |
| Cost to patients per test | ||||
| Median [IQR], (INR) | 50 [50–88] | 50 [50–100] | 50 [50–75] | 0.12 |
| Median [IQR], (USD,$) | 0.73 [0.73–1.28] | 0.73 [0.73–1.45] | 0.73 [0.73–1.09] | |
| Keeps record of test results | ||||
| Yes | 27 (25) | 31 (58) | 52 (91) | <0.001 |
| No | 83 (75) | 22 (42) | 5 (9) | |
| Reasons for performing POC tests** | ||||
| Results available immediately | 96 (87) | 42 (79) | 54 (95) | 0.14 |
| Convenience for patients | 70 (64) | 30 (57) | 40 (70) | 0.46 |
| Diagnosis and treatment in same visit | 35 (32) | 19 (36) | 16 (28) | 0.02 |
| More affordable for patients | 13 (12) | 5 (10) | 8 (14) | 0.38 |
| Interested in using novel POC TB test | ||||
| Perform in-house | 78 (71) | 39 (74) | 39 (68) | 0.55 |
| Order from lab | 32 (29) | 14 (26) | 18 (32) | |
MD, Medical doctor degree; MS, Master of surgery degree; MBBS, Bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery undergraduate degrees; INR, Indian rupees; USD, United States dollar; POC, point-of-care.
*Pearson's chi-squared (or Fisher's exact) test for categorical variables comparing practitioners who diagnosed 12 patients or less with TB to those who diagnosed more than 12 patients with TB in the past year; Wilcoxon test for continuous variables.
**Categories are not mutually exclusive.