Evidence map›Paper›PMID 18667057›Full record

ArticleBMC public health2008

Nonlinear pattern of pulmonary tuberculosis among migrants at entry in Kuwait: 1997-2006.

Saeed Akhtar, Hameed G H H Mohammad

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC public health, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 31% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Does tuberculosis have a seasonal pattern among migrant population entering Iran?International journal of health policy and management · 2014
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Saeed AkhtarDepartment of Community Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, PO Box 24923, Safat 13110, Kuwait. saeed.akhtar@hsc.edu.kw
Hameed G H H Mohammad
Kuwait University · KWMinistry of Health · KW

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is a paucity of published data on the pattern of pulmonary tuberculosis among migrant workers entering Middle Eastern countries particularly Kuwait. The objectives of this study were to use routine health surveillance data i) to estimate the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis among migrant workers at entry in Kuwait and ii) to determine the occurrence of any time trends in the proportions of pulmonary tuberculosis positive workers over the study period.

methodsThe monthly aggregates of daily number of migrants tested and the number of pulmonary tuberculosis cases detected during routine health examinations of migrant workers from tuberculosis high-prevalence countries were used to generate the monthly series of proportions (per 100,000) of pulmonary tuberculosis cases over 120 months between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2006 and analysed using time series methods.

resultsThe overall prevalence (per 100,000) of documented pulmonary tuberculosis cases among screened migrants was 198 (4608/2328582). Year-specific prevalence (per 100,000) of tuberculosis cases consistently declined from 456 (95% CI: 424-490) in 1997 to 124 (95% CI: 110-140) in 2002 before showing a steady increase up to 183 (95% CI: 169-197) in 2006. The second-order polynomial regression model revealed significant (P < 0.001) initial decline, followed by a significant (P < 0.001) increasing trend thereafter in monthly proportions of tuberculosis cases among migrant workers.

conclusionThe proportions of documented tuberculosis cases among migrant workers showed a significant nonlinear pattern, with an initial decline followed by a significant increasing trend towards the end of the study period. These findings underscore the need to maintain the current policy of migrants' screening for tuberculosis at entry. The public health authorities in Kuwait and perhaps other countries in the region may consider complementing the current screening protocol with interferon-gamma assays to detect migrants with latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. An appropriate curative or preventive chemotherapy of detected tuberculosis cases may help in further minimizing the risk of local transmission of M. tuberculosis, while contributing in global efforts to control this public health menace.

Indexed as

AdultAfricaAsia, SoutheasternFemaleHumansKuwaitLongitudinal StudiesMaleMediterranean RegionNonlinear DynamicsPrevalenceRegression AnalysisTime FactorsTransients and MigrantsTuberculosis, Pulmonary

Identifiers

PMID18667057
PMCPMC2527606
OpenAlexW2015969990

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.