Abstract
Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is an air-borne disease and globally TB kills around five thousand people every day. In 2019, Malaysia recorded 26352 new TB cases. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) estimation, new TB case detection in Malaysia should be around 33000. Based on this estimation, we are missing around 3,000 cases annually which can have catastrophic impact in terms of morbidity and mortality associated with TB since the disease is air-borne. General practitioner (GP) in private clinic plays a very important role is very in addressing the aforementioned issue.
Method: Face to face engagement with 13 private clinics in Kuala Langat were done in 2020, by the Kuala Langat district TB Unit. During the engagement session, doctors in the private clinic were briefed with current TB trend at the district and were provided with TB alert cards. TB alert card consist of signs and symptoms and contact information of the TB clinic and government health clinics. The TB alert card are used as promotional tool by the clinic and given to the patients visiting the private clinic. Apart from that, symptomatic patients with prolonged cough history for more than 2 weeks are screened for TB using chest radiography and sputum AFB. Confirmed TB cases are notified using the National Electronic Communicable Disease Control Information System (E-Notification) by the GP. Besides the confirmed cases, patients with high degree suspicion of TB are referred to nearest health clinic and district TB unit are notified by phone call. With the availability of the contact information in the TB alert card, patients are referred directly to the nearest health clinic and district TB unit will do immediate follow on the same day for TB case confirmation and treatment initiation. Letter of appreciation is given to the private clinics as an encouragement for them to continue detecting new TB cases in the community
Results: Kuala Langat district TB Unit received valuable feedback from the GP and understood that information dissemination using the TB alert card helped doctors in the private clinics in the process of TB case detection. Effective communication is established between private clinics and district TB Unit. TB case detection by the GP increased in Kuala Langat District by 2.8 times after using the TB alert card.
Discussion: In conclusion, active engagement and effective two way communication with the GP is essential in increasing TB case detection in line with the effort to end TB epidemic by 2030 as stated firmly among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Apart from increasing the TB case detection, this comprehensive approach will reduce the tendency of loss to follow up and delay in seeking treatment.
Links
- https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/APCPH2022-O-48.pdf
- https://apcph.cphm.my/events/oral-session-2-ballroom-B/
BibTeX (Download)
@proceedings{APCPH2022-O-48,
title = {Smart GP Partnership in TB Case Detection at Kuala Langat District},
author = {Thinakaran Kandayah and Zul Aizzat Baharuddin},
url = {https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/APCPH2022-O-48.pdf
https://apcph.cphm.my/events/oral-session-2-ballroom-B/},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-08-01},
urldate = {2022-08-02},
issue = {7},
abstract = {Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is an air-borne disease and globally TB kills around five thousand people every day. In 2019, Malaysia recorded 26352 new TB cases. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) estimation, new TB case detection in Malaysia should be around 33000. Based on this estimation, we are missing around 3,000 cases annually which can have catastrophic impact in terms of morbidity and mortality associated with TB since the disease is air-borne. General practitioner (GP) in private clinic plays a very important role is very in addressing the aforementioned issue.
Method: Face to face engagement with 13 private clinics in Kuala Langat were done in 2020, by the Kuala Langat district TB Unit. During the engagement session, doctors in the private clinic were briefed with current TB trend at the district and were provided with TB alert cards. TB alert card consist of signs and symptoms and contact information of the TB clinic and government health clinics. The TB alert card are used as promotional tool by the clinic and given to the patients visiting the private clinic. Apart from that, symptomatic patients with prolonged cough history for more than 2 weeks are screened for TB using chest radiography and sputum AFB. Confirmed TB cases are notified using the National Electronic Communicable Disease Control Information System (E-Notification) by the GP. Besides the confirmed cases, patients with high degree suspicion of TB are referred to nearest health clinic and district TB unit are notified by phone call. With the availability of the contact information in the TB alert card, patients are referred directly to the nearest health clinic and district TB unit will do immediate follow on the same day for TB case confirmation and treatment initiation. Letter of appreciation is given to the private clinics as an encouragement for them to continue detecting new TB cases in the community
Results: Kuala Langat district TB Unit received valuable feedback from the GP and understood that information dissemination using the TB alert card helped doctors in the private clinics in the process of TB case detection. Effective communication is established between private clinics and district TB Unit. TB case detection by the GP increased in Kuala Langat District by 2.8 times after using the TB alert card.
Discussion: In conclusion, active engagement and effective two way communication with the GP is essential in increasing TB case detection in line with the effort to end TB epidemic by 2030 as stated firmly among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Apart from increasing the TB case detection, this comprehensive approach will reduce the tendency of loss to follow up and delay in seeking treatment.},
howpublished = {published online at https://apcph.cphm.my},
note = {Type: ORAL PRESENTATION; Organisation: Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur; Tuberculosis and Leprosy Unit, Kuala Langat District Health Office, Banting, Selangor},
keywords = {case detection, partnership, tuberculosis},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {proceedings}
}