Tuberculosis (TB) is a public health challenge in Malaysia. Delay in diagnosing and treating TB patients are associated with TB transmission. These treatment delays can be reduced by identifying and managing the contributing epidemiological factors. This study measured the magnitude of the delays in TB treatment in terms of patient delay, medical visit delay and treatment initiation delay. In addition, it aims to identify epidemiological factors contributing to these delays, the disease severity and positive sputum smear outcome. This is a cross sectional study of TB patients in a district hospital and the outcomes were computed in terms of percentage, survival curve, odds ratio and confidence interval. The patient delay, medical visit delay and initiation of treatment delay are 73%, 53% and 14% respectively. Patient delay is reduced to 50% after 28 days and is eliminated after 1120 days. Malay patients and patients without family history of TB have higher risk of experiencing all three delays. Non-Malays, males, patients with family history of TB and patients with TB contact have been related to higher risk of severe form of TB and positive smear. TB transmission can be reduced by managing the epidemiological factors identified in TB control measures.
Published in | American Journal of Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine (Volume 2, Issue 2) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.ajprm.20170202.13 |
Page(s) | 28-32 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group |
TB Transmission, Treatment Delay, Epidemiological Factor
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APA Style
Thana Sehgaran Shanmugam, Nyanamalar Sivapalan, Nirmalatiban Parthiban, Tha Shanmuga Sundari Thana Sehgaran, Puvanewari Subramanian. (2017). Epidemiological Factors and Preventable Tuberculosis Transmission in a Hospital Setting in Malaysia. American Journal of Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine, 2(2), 28-32. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajprm.20170202.13
ACS Style
Thana Sehgaran Shanmugam; Nyanamalar Sivapalan; Nirmalatiban Parthiban; Tha Shanmuga Sundari Thana Sehgaran; Puvanewari Subramanian. Epidemiological Factors and Preventable Tuberculosis Transmission in a Hospital Setting in Malaysia. Am. J. Pulm. Respir. Med. 2017, 2(2), 28-32. doi: 10.11648/j.ajprm.20170202.13
AMA Style
Thana Sehgaran Shanmugam, Nyanamalar Sivapalan, Nirmalatiban Parthiban, Tha Shanmuga Sundari Thana Sehgaran, Puvanewari Subramanian. Epidemiological Factors and Preventable Tuberculosis Transmission in a Hospital Setting in Malaysia. Am J Pulm Respir Med. 2017;2(2):28-32. doi: 10.11648/j.ajprm.20170202.13
@article{10.11648/j.ajprm.20170202.13, author = {Thana Sehgaran Shanmugam and Nyanamalar Sivapalan and Nirmalatiban Parthiban and Tha Shanmuga Sundari Thana Sehgaran and Puvanewari Subramanian}, title = {Epidemiological Factors and Preventable Tuberculosis Transmission in a Hospital Setting in Malaysia}, journal = {American Journal of Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine}, volume = {2}, number = {2}, pages = {28-32}, doi = {10.11648/j.ajprm.20170202.13}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajprm.20170202.13}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajprm.20170202.13}, abstract = {Tuberculosis (TB) is a public health challenge in Malaysia. Delay in diagnosing and treating TB patients are associated with TB transmission. These treatment delays can be reduced by identifying and managing the contributing epidemiological factors. This study measured the magnitude of the delays in TB treatment in terms of patient delay, medical visit delay and treatment initiation delay. In addition, it aims to identify epidemiological factors contributing to these delays, the disease severity and positive sputum smear outcome. This is a cross sectional study of TB patients in a district hospital and the outcomes were computed in terms of percentage, survival curve, odds ratio and confidence interval. The patient delay, medical visit delay and initiation of treatment delay are 73%, 53% and 14% respectively. Patient delay is reduced to 50% after 28 days and is eliminated after 1120 days. Malay patients and patients without family history of TB have higher risk of experiencing all three delays. Non-Malays, males, patients with family history of TB and patients with TB contact have been related to higher risk of severe form of TB and positive smear. TB transmission can be reduced by managing the epidemiological factors identified in TB control measures.}, year = {2017} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Epidemiological Factors and Preventable Tuberculosis Transmission in a Hospital Setting in Malaysia AU - Thana Sehgaran Shanmugam AU - Nyanamalar Sivapalan AU - Nirmalatiban Parthiban AU - Tha Shanmuga Sundari Thana Sehgaran AU - Puvanewari Subramanian Y1 - 2017/05/03 PY - 2017 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajprm.20170202.13 DO - 10.11648/j.ajprm.20170202.13 T2 - American Journal of Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine JF - American Journal of Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine JO - American Journal of Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine SP - 28 EP - 32 PB - Science Publishing Group UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajprm.20170202.13 AB - Tuberculosis (TB) is a public health challenge in Malaysia. Delay in diagnosing and treating TB patients are associated with TB transmission. These treatment delays can be reduced by identifying and managing the contributing epidemiological factors. This study measured the magnitude of the delays in TB treatment in terms of patient delay, medical visit delay and treatment initiation delay. In addition, it aims to identify epidemiological factors contributing to these delays, the disease severity and positive sputum smear outcome. This is a cross sectional study of TB patients in a district hospital and the outcomes were computed in terms of percentage, survival curve, odds ratio and confidence interval. The patient delay, medical visit delay and initiation of treatment delay are 73%, 53% and 14% respectively. Patient delay is reduced to 50% after 28 days and is eliminated after 1120 days. Malay patients and patients without family history of TB have higher risk of experiencing all three delays. Non-Malays, males, patients with family history of TB and patients with TB contact have been related to higher risk of severe form of TB and positive smear. TB transmission can be reduced by managing the epidemiological factors identified in TB control measures. VL - 2 IS - 2 ER -