Table 2. Diagnostic tuberculosis tests in current use and total annual throughput as stated by the respondents.a.
| Variable | Total | Income level of the countries (World Bank classification) | p* | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | Upper middle | Lower middle | Low | |||
| (n = 690b ) | (n = 179) | (n = 257) | (n = 162) | (n = 91) | ||
| Proportional distribution, % | 25.94 | 37.25 | 23.48 | 13.19 | ||
| Tuberculosis tests per year | 0.023 | |||||
| < 100 | 70 (10.14) | 25 (13.97) | 28 (10.89) | 13 (8.02) | 3 (3.30) | |
| 100-1,000 | 175 (25.36) | 36 (20.11) | 77 (29.96) | 41 (25.31) | 21 (23.08) | |
| 1,000-5,000 | 187 (27.10) | 56 (31.28) | 68 (26.46) | 42 (25.93) | 21 (23.08) | |
| > 5,000 | 196 (28.41) | 49 (27.37) | 64 (24.90) | 52 (32.10) | 31 (34.07) | |
| Not known | 62 (8.99) | 13 (7.26) | 20 (7.78) | 14 (8.64) | 15 (16.48) | |
| Type of test (multiple answers) | < 0.00001 | |||||
| AFB staining | 627c (90.87) | 158 (88.27) | 228 (88.72) | 155 (95.68) | 85 (93.41) | |
| Solid culture | 509c (73.77) | 142 (79.33) | 187 (72.76) | 111 (68.52) | 68 (74.73) | |
| Liquid culture | 468c (67.83) | 151 (84.36) | 155 (60.31) | 103 (63.58) | 58 (63.74) | |
| First-line drug susceptibility | 500 (72.46) | 140 (78.21) | 174 (67.70) | 121 (74.69) | 65 (71.43) | |
| Second-line drug susceptibility | 317 (45.94) | 102 (56.98) | 99 (38.52) | 78 (48.15) | 38 (41.76) | |
| “In-house” molecular assay | 193 (27.97) | 70 (39.11) | 58 (22.57) | 44 (27.16) | 21 (23.08) | |
| Commercial molecular assay | 413 (59.86) | 145 (81.01) | 131 (50.97) | 90 (55.56) | 47 (51.65) | |
| IGRA | 264 (38.26) | 144 (80.45) | 76 (29.57) | 37 (22.84) | 7 (7.69) | |
| ELISA-based assay (serology) | 124 (17.97) | 31 (17.32) | 63 (24.51) | 18 (11.11) | 12 (13.19) | |
| LFIA | 75 (10.87) | 26 (14.53) | 26 (10.12) | 12 (7.41) | 11 (12.09) | |
| Other | 20 (2.90) | 8 (4.47) | 9 (3.50) | 3 (1.85) | 0 (0.00) | |
| Any serological test (ELISA+LFIA) | 175 (25.36) | 50 (27.93) | 76 (29.57) | 27 (16.67) | 22 (24.18) | 0.0723 |
| Any molecular assay | 488 (70.72) | 157 (87.71) | 154 (59.92) | 115 (70.99) | 62 (68.13) | < 0.00001 |
IGRA: interferon-gamma release assay; and LFIA: lateral flow immunoassay. aValues expressed as n (%), except where otherwise indicated. bIncludes data only from respondents who stated that they were performing tests. cIncludes one respondent working in a country that could not be classified according to the World Bank classification. *Chi-square test, with Bonferroni correction.