TABLE 1.
Time frames for reporting to specimen submitter and initiating treatment
| Patient group | No. of patients | Time frame median (range)c
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Submitter reporting | Treatment initiation | ||
| AFB smear positive | |||
| All | 104 | 1.0 (0-35) | 1.0 (0-70) |
| With delaysa | 2.0 (2-35) | 4.0 (2-70) | |
| Tested in hospital lab | 63 | 1.0 (0-14) | 1.0 (0-16) |
| Tested in public health lab | 17 | 2.0 (0-35) | 2.0 (0-48) |
| Tested in commercial lab | 10 | 2.0 (1-3) | 4.0 (0-70) |
| Tested in HMO lab | 14 | 1.0 (0-5) | 2.5 (0-20) |
| AFB smear negative | |||
| All | 111 | 21.0 (9-143) | 22.0 (0-145) |
| With delaysb | 28.5 (22-143) | 33.5 (23-145) | |
| Tested in hospital lab | 49 | 20.0 (9-143) | 20.0 (0-145) |
| Tested in public health lab | 19 | 22.0 (11-64) | 20.0 (0-78) |
| Tested in commercial lab | 23 | 28.0 (18-60) | 31.0 (0-75) |
| Tested in HMO lab | 20 | 18.5 (10-29) | 21.0 (1-62) |
a
Number of AFB smear-positive patients with delays in submitter reporting, 28; number with delays in treatment initiation, 42.
b
Number of AFB smear-negative patients with delays in submitter reporting, 52; number with delays in treatment initiation, 52.
c
Values are numbers of days.