Table 2. Referral characteristics of private providers networked within Dhaka metropolitan area.
| Factors | Total N | Chest Physicians/Consultants | General Practitioners | Internists/ Specialists | Others | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n(%) | n(%) | n(%) | n(%) | |||
| Networked Providersa | 8466 | 1517 (18) | 2511 (30) | 2133 (25) | 2305 (27) | |
| Patients referred to SCb | 51129 | 26444 (52) | 3080 (6) | 11021 (22) | 10584 (21) | |
| Adults | 48894 | 25298 (52) | 2948 (6) | 10504 (21) | 10144 (21) | p<0.001f |
| Children | 2235 | 1146 (51) | 132 (6) | 517 (23) | 440 (20) | p<0.05 g |
| Referred at least 1 patient | 4270 | 745 (17) | 1410 (33) | 1044 (24) | 1071 (25) | p<0.05 |
| Referred at least 10 patient | 484 | 175 (36) | 17 (4) | 184 (38) | 108 (22) | p<0.001 |
| Total TB Cases identified | 8480 | 5302 (63) | 562 (7) | 1515 (18) | 1101 (13) | p<0.001 |
| Pulmonary B+ casesc | 6610 | 4247 (64) | 346 (5) | 1123 (17) | 894 (14) | p<0.001 |
| Pulmonary B- cases d | 1267 | 800 (63) | 162 (13) | 241 (19) | 64 (5) | p<0.001 |
| EPTBe cases | 603 | 255 (42) | 54 (9) | 151 (25) | 143 (24) | p<0.001 |
| Referred ≥1 TB cases | 1313 | 358 (27) | 269 (20) | 391 (30) | 295 (22) | p<0.05 |
| Referred ≥10 TB cases | 101 | 71 (70) | 1 (1) | 21 (21) | 8 (8) | p<0.05 |
a Exact enumeration of PPs in Dhaka is unavailable. According to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) 2013, 62% of the 64,434 registered physicians were involved in the private sector. Among these, one-third (~16,000) of the total estimated private providers were expected to serve in the DMA [27].
b SC (screening centre),
c Pulmonary B+ cases (bacteriologically positive pulmonary TB cases).
d Pulmonary B- cases (clinically diagnosed pulmonary TB cases)),
e EPTB (extra-pulmonary TB).
f p<0.001 in all comparisons between chest physician/consultant Vs all, internist/specialists Vs general practitioners, internist/specialists Vs others, other Vs general practitioners by chi square test or fisher exact test as appropriate
g p<0.05 in all comparisons between chest physician/consultant Vs all, internist/specialists Vs general practitioners, internist/specialists Vs others, other Vs general practitioners by chi square test or fisher exact test as appropriate