Did “Screeners” Increase Pediatric Tuberculosis Case Notification in Sindh, Pakistan?

Screeners are health workers trained to screen accompanying contacts of TB patients for symptoms

From:: Department for International Development
Published: 29 March 2017

Country:: Pakistan
Document Type:: Journal Article
Theme:: Health
Authors:: Khurshid, A, Hinderaker, S.G., Heldal, E, Fatima, R, Haq, M, Yaqoob, A

Abstract

To identify missing childhood Tuberculosis (TB) cases, “screeners” (hospital-based health workers trained to screen accompanying contacts of TB patients for symptoms) were introduced in 8 tertiary care hospitals of Sindh, Pakistan in 2013. There was a 55% increase in childhood TB notifications in 2014 compared to 2012 in facilities with screeners (n = 8) compared to 40% increase in facilities without screeners (n = 22). This apparent association disappeared when stratified by presence of “trained pediatrician” whose introduction was associated with a massive increase in notifications while transfer was associated with a marked decrease. In conclusion, screeners were not associated with increase in pediatric TB case notifications.

This research was supported by the UK Department for International Development’s Operational Research Capacity Building Programme led by the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union)

Citation

Khurshid A, Hinderaker SG, Heldal E, Fatima R, Haq M, Yaqoob A, Ansari A, Anwar K, Qadeer E, Kumar AMV. Did “Screeners” Increase Pediatric Tuberculosis Case Notification in Sindh, Pakistan? Journal of Tuberculosis Research. 2017;5(1):81–6.