Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Contact screening is an essential component of tuberculosis control in Malaysia to identify individuals with tuberculosis and latent infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Despite the governments effort in reducing transmission among TB patients relatives and friend, only few turn up for their screening appointments. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of tuberculosis contacts attending screening and the factors influencing them. METHODS: A cross-sectional study based on identified and registered tuberculosis contacts in Marang district from year 2013 to 2017. RESULTS: Among 910 tuberculosis contacts selected,77% attended the initial screening,46% three months after initial screening,16% after six months and 2.3% two years later. The fourth tuberculosis screening appointment has the highest absenteeism which is 97%. Smokers and those having co-morbid such as diabetes and hypertension has higher percentage of attending screening appointments compared to others (66%).We found that those staying far from health facilities (81%) statistically significant in attending at least one screening visit as compared to those living near them (73%) or staying in remote areas (41%) Among contacts who were screened, only 0.4% has yielded positive test. DISCUSSION: This study shows that tuberculosis contacts are not consistent in attending their screening appointments. Among the various factors identified for their attendance are distance from home to the nearest health facility, occupation and co-morbid. This study demonstrates that TB screening activities among our population need to be strengthened to achieve the success of our National TB control programme.
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@proceedings{APCPH-2019-104,
title = {What Are the Factors Influencing Tuberculosis Contacts Turning Up for Their Screening Appointments?},
author = {Kartik Kaliyana Sundram},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-07-22},
urldate = {2019-07-22},
journal = {6th Asia-Pacific Conference on Public Health 2019 Proceedings},
issue = {6},
abstract = {INTRODUCTION: Contact screening is an essential component of tuberculosis control in Malaysia to identify individuals with tuberculosis and latent infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Despite the governments effort in reducing transmission among TB patients relatives and friend, only few turn up for their screening appointments. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of tuberculosis contacts attending screening and the factors influencing them. METHODS: A cross-sectional study based on identified and registered tuberculosis contacts in Marang district from year 2013 to 2017. RESULTS: Among 910 tuberculosis contacts selected,77% attended the initial screening,46% three months after initial screening,16% after six months and 2.3% two years later. The fourth tuberculosis screening appointment has the highest absenteeism which is 97%. Smokers and those having co-morbid such as diabetes and hypertension has higher percentage of attending screening appointments compared to others (66%).We found that those staying far from health facilities (81%) statistically significant in attending at least one screening visit as compared to those living near them (73%) or staying in remote areas (41%) Among contacts who were screened, only 0.4% has yielded positive test. DISCUSSION: This study shows that tuberculosis contacts are not consistent in attending their screening appointments. Among the various factors identified for their attendance are distance from home to the nearest health facility, occupation and co-morbid. This study demonstrates that TB screening activities among our population need to be strengthened to achieve the success of our National TB control programme.},
note = {Type: ORAL PRESENTATION; Organisation: Marang District Health Office},
keywords = {contact screening, defaulting appointment, tuberculosis},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {proceedings}
}