TABLE 1.
Characteristics of children with TB discharged from Tygerberg Hospital, Cape Town, Western Cape Province, Republic of South Africa, by completion status of in-hospital linkage-to-care intervention activities, January–December 2012 (n = 272)
| TB education | Referral documentation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Completed (n = 230, 84.6%) n/N (%) | P value | Completed (n = 220, 80.8%) n/N (%) | P value | |
| Demographic/clinical factors | ||||
| Age, years | ||||
| 0–<2 | 103/119 (86.6) | 97/119 (81.5) | ||
| 2–<5 | 74/85 (87.1) | 73/85 (85.9) | ||
| 5–13 | 53/68 (77.9) | 0.218 | 50/68 (73.5) | 0.151 |
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 130/155 (83.9) | 131/155 (84.5) | ||
| Female | 100/117 (85.5) | 0.718 | 89/117 (76.1) | 0.079 |
| HIV status | ||||
| Positive | 51/59 (86.4) | 48/59 (81.4) | ||
| Negative | 166/195 (85.1) | 161/195 (82.6) | ||
| Unknown | 13/18 (72.2) | 0.316 | 11/18 (61.1) | 0.086 |
| TB disease type | ||||
| PTB only | 130/154 (84.4) | 132/154 (85.7) | ||
| Both PTB and EPTB | 62/72 (86.1) | 62/72 (86.1) | ||
| EPTB only | 38/46 (82.6) | 0.874 | 26/46 (56.5) | 0.001 |
| Diagnostic status | ||||
| Culture-confirmed M. tuberculosis | 80/102 (78.4) | 76/102 (74.5) | ||
| Clinical diagnosis | 150/170 (88.2) | 0.030 | 144/170 (84.7) | 0.038 |
| TB treatment regimen | ||||
| DS-TB regimen | 216/258 (83.7) | 209/258 (81.0) | ||
| DR-TB regimen* | 14/14 (100) | 0.137† | 11/14 (78.6) | 0.735† |
| TB care pathway/admission factors | ||||
| TB diagnostic pathway | ||||
| Diagnosed before admission | 50/56 (89.3) | 36/56 (64.3) | ||
| Diagnosed during admission | 174/203 (85.7) | 178/203 (87.7) | ||
| Diagnosed after discharge‡ | 6/13 (46.2) | <0.001 | 6/13 (46.2) | <0.001 |
| Level of health care accessed before diagnosis§ | ||||
| Primary health care | 11/13 (84.6) | 9/13 (69.2) | ||
| Other hospital | 39/43 (90.7) | 0.615† | 27/43 (62.8) | 0.752† |
| Duration of hospital visit/admission | ||||
| Outpatients | 28/34 (82,4) | 28/34 (82.4) | ||
| 1–⩽3 days | 23/39 (59.0) | 30/39 (76.9) | ||
| ⩾4 days | 179/199 (90.0) | <0.001 | 162/199 (81.4) | 0.787 |
*Includes all types of drug resistance.
† Fisher’s Exact test used if χ2 assumptions were not met.
‡ 12 of 13 children who were diagnosed only after discharge were diagnosed based on a culture-positive result that became available only after discharge.
§ Including only children diagnosed before hospital admission.
TB = tuberculosis; HIV = human immunodeficiency virus; PTB = pulmonary TB; EPTB = extrapulmonary TB; DS-TB = drug-susceptible TB; DR-TB = drug-resistant TB.