Factors leading smear positive Tuberculosis (TB) patients at a late consultation

Abstract

Detection and treatment of smear positive cases are key factors for TB control. This strategy can help breaking the transmission chain of TB and allow reaching the WHO objectives, which consist of detecting 75% of smear positive cases and treating 80%. We conducted a prospective study by enrolling smear positive pulmonary TB cases from three health reference centers and the University Teaching Hospital at Point-G, Bamako, Mali. Two hundred cases were included in this study between August 2009 and January 2010. Age range 25 to 34 years was more represented, and there was a ratio of 2/3 for men. This study found that 100% of TB patients did not know that persistent cough more than two weeks period despite standard treatment could be TB infection. Majority of patients, almost 76.5% did not know that TB is an air bone disease, and 89.5% ignored that cough is the first symptom of pulmonary case. More than half of the patients (58.5%) doubted if TB can be cured, and 61% did not know that smear microscopy test was free of charge. The majority of patients were informed about TB infection at school and 27.5% knew about it through TV. This study found that 29% of patients were seen between 1-3 months after first symptoms, and 50% were coming by foot to the health for drugs supply. This study showed that the population has a low level of knowledge about TB infection.