Table.

Characteristics of included studies

	Setting	Study design	Proportion HIV positive	Screened population*	Pre-screening assessments*	Reference diagnostic test	Antibiotic, dose, and duration	Follow-up (days from baseline)	Definition of clinical response	Contribution to review population (n=2786)
Wilkinson et al (1997)17	South Africa; hospital inpatients	Cohort	58% of target population, but study-specific proportion not reported	≥3 weeks' cough and sputum production, weight loss, night sweats, or chest pain	Three negative smears and chest x-ray; patient excluded if clinical and radiological features of acute pneumonia were present	MTB culture (Lowenstein–Jensen and Middlebrook 7H11 agar)	Ampicillin 500 mg four times daily for 7–10 days	Not reported	Not reported	237 (9%)
Wilkinson et al (2000)7	South Africa; hospital inpatients	Cohort	70%	≥3 weeks' respiratory symptoms (cough, chest pain, sputum production, shortness of breath, tachypnoea, or haemoptysis) and an abnormal chest x-ray compatible with tuberculosis; or community-acquired pneumonia (acute cough, fever, and sputum production) that did not respond to antibiotic treatment taken as an outpatient	Three negative smears and chest x-ray; patient excluded if clinical and radiological features consistent with other respiratory infections or cardiac pathologies were present	MTB culture (Lowenstein–Jensen and Middlebrook 7Hll agar)	Amoxycillin 500 mg three times daily for 5 days (erythromycin 500 mg four times daily given if no improvement from amoxycillin)	5	Patients met all four criteria: (1) cough ceased or substantially decreased (reported by both nurse and patient); (2) sputum production ceased or substantially decreased (measured in sputum container); (3) apyrexial for 48 h (measured on temperature chart); and (4) judgment by attending clinician, including above and change in pulse and respiratory rates	120 (4%)
Kudjawu et al (2006)15	Guinea; primary care clinic	Cohort	15%	≥3 weeks' cough; patient excluded if they were previously diagnosed with chronic lung disease, had received more than 72 h treatment for the acute condition that prompted consultation, or had a history of tuberculosis	Three negative smears	Smear microscopy (Ziehl–Neelsen and phenolauramine) or MTB culture (culture type not reported)	Amoxicillin 1500 mg daily for 10 days	14	Clinical definition: diminished cough, defervescence, and improved wellbeing; radiographical definition: appreciable clearing on day 14 film of densities noted on day 1 film	359 (13%)
Siddiqi at al (2006)20	Pakistan; tuberculosis clinic at referral hospital	Cohort	Not reported	≥3 weeks' cough; patient excluded if they had a history of tuberculosis or were on anti-tuberculosis therapy	Three negative smears	Smear microscopy or MTB culture (culture type not reported)	Penicillin or macrolide (dose not reported) for 7–10 days	7 to 10	Clinical judgment of a study-trained physician (no specific definition provided)	1000 (36%)
Soto et al (2011)18	Peru; referral hospital (26% inpatients; 74% referred from peripheral centres)	Cohort	0%	≥2 weeks' cough plus at least one of dyspnoea, thoracic pain, fever, night sweating, or weight loss	Three negative smears	MTB culture (Ogawa, Middlebrook 7H9 media, and mycobacteria growth indicator tube)	Doxycycline 100 mg twice daily for 10 days	14	Reduction or resolution of constitutional and respiratory symptoms plus resolution of signs at clinical examination	264 (9%)
Huerga et al (2012)14	Kenya, tuberculosis clinic at referral hospital	Cohort	68%	≥2 weeks' cough; patient excluded if they had taken fluoroquinolones or anti-tuberculosis drugs in the past month	Two negative smears and chest x-ray; patient excluded if chest x-ray suggested tuberculosis or if patient was in severe clinical condition	MTB culture (Lowenstein–Jensen and thin layer agar)	Amoxicillin 1 g three times daily for 5 days	5	Resolution judged as either complete resolution (resolution of all clinical symptoms with a normal physical examination), partial resolution (improvement with persistence of clinical symptoms or signs), or no resolution (absence of improvement or clinical worsening)	285 (10%)
Padmapriyadarsini et al (2013)19	India; network of HIV clinics	Cohort	100%	≥2 weeks' cough or fever in the past ≥2 weeks, or both	Three negative smears	MTB culture (Lowenstein–Jensen)	Amoxicillin 500 mg every 6 h for 7 days, followed by doxycycline 100 mg twice daily for 7 days	14	Patients considered not to have tuberculosis if they met all three criteria: (1) none or improved symptoms (cough or fever), (2) normal chest x-ray, and (3) negative sputum smears after 14 days	440 (16%)
Walusimbi et al (2016)16	Uganda; HIV clinic	Cohort	100%	≥2 weeks' cough or fever, or noticeable weight loss or excessive night sweats; patient excluded if they were on quinolone medication	Two negative fluorescent tuberculosis microscopy tests, and negative GeneXpert	MTB culture (mycobacteria growth indicator tube)	Macrolides and cephalosporins (dose and duration not reported)	14	Self-reported absence of symptoms to clinical staff	81 (3%)

MTB=Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

^*Screened population refers to the eligibility criteria for the part of the study in which the index test was evaluated; pre-screening tests were done for eligible patients before the index test.