TABLE 1.
Culture-positive | Culture-negative | p-value | Smear-positive | All others | p-value | |
Subjects | 170 | 221 | 74 | 317 | ||
Age years | 46.2±21.0 | 44.6±16.3 | 0.42 | 45.4±21.2 | 45.3±17.8 | 0.97 |
Male | 90 (52.9) | 111 (50.2) | 0.59 | 41 (55.4) | 160 (50.4) | 0.44 |
Clinical characteristics mean score# | ||||||
Symptoms | 2.7±1.14 | 1.1±0.58 | <0.001 | 3.3±0.87 | 1.4±0.92 | <0.001 |
Duration of symptoms | 3.0±1.24 | 1.1±0.72 | <0.001 | 3.5±0.89 | 1.6±1.2 | <0.001 |
Absence of dyspnoea | 3.7±0.60 | 3.9±0.22 | <0.001 | 3.6±0.64 | 3.9±0.37 | <0.001 |
Antibiotic use | 1.9±1.20 | 1.1±0.53 | <0.001 | 2.4±1.2 | 1.2±0.75 | <0.001 |
Epidemiological risk of acquiring Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection | 2.5±0.68 | 2.8±0.92 | 0.007 | 2.3±0.54 | 2.7±0.87 | 0.002 |
Risk factors for reactivation of LTBI | 1.4±0.82 | 1.1±0.51 | <0.001 | 1.5±0.74 | 1.1±0.66 | <0.001 |
Complete blood count | 2.9±0.99 | 2.1±0.64 | <0.001 | 3.1±1.01 | 2.3±0.82 | <0.001 |
Data are presented as n, mean±sd or n (%), unless otherwise stated. LTBI: latent TB infection. #: refers to the mean of the score, ranging from 1 to 4, characterising the association between the predictor and outcome from clinical experience.