Skip to main content
. 2019 Jun 7;2019(6):CD009593. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD009593.pub4

Helb 2010

Study characteristics
Patient sampling Cross‐sectional design, consecutive enrolment, retrospective data collection
Patient characteristics and setting Presenting signs and symptoms: cough lasting at least 2 weeks
Age: median 34 years, range 18 to 76 years
Sex, female: 30.8%
HIV infection: 0.9%
History of TB: 1.9%
Sample size: 107
Clinical setting: TB hospital, unclear whether inpatient or outpatient or both
Laboratory level: central
Country: Vietnam
World Bank Income Classification: middle income
High TB burden country: yes
High MDR‐TB burden country: yes
High TB/HIV burden country: no
TB incidence rate: 199 per 100,000
MDR‐TB prevalence: Percent MDR‐TB among new TB cases = 2.7% (Source: nationwide survey, 2006) and among retreatment cases = 19% (Source: nationwide survey, 2006)
Proportion of TB cases in the study: 76.6%
Index tests Index: Xpert MTB/RIF assay
Target condition and reference standard(s) Target condition: pulmonary TB
Reference standard: LJ culture and MGIT 960
Flow and timing  
Comparative  
Notes Rifampicin resistance data were not reported
Methodological quality
Item Authors' judgement Risk of bias Applicability concerns
DOMAIN 1: Patient Selection
Was a consecutive or random sample of patients enrolled? Yes
Was a case‐control design avoided? Yes
Did the study avoid inappropriate exclusions? Yes
Low Unclear
DOMAIN 2: Index Test Xpert MTB/RIF
Were the index test results interpreted without knowledge of the results of the reference standard? Yes
If a threshold was used, was it pre‐specified? Yes
Low Low
DOMAIN 3: Reference Standard
Is the reference standards likely to correctly classify the target condition? Yes
Were the reference standard results for TB detection interpreted without knowledge of the results of the index test? Yes
Were the reference standard results for rifampicin resistance detection interpreted without knowledge of the results of the index test? Yes
Low Low
DOMAIN 4: Flow and Timing
Was there an appropriate interval between index test and reference standard? Yes
Did all patients receive the same reference standard? Yes
Were all patients included in the analysis? Unclear
Unclear