Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27303572›Full record

ArticleThe Pan African medical journal2016

Outcomes of a clinical diagnostic algorithm for management of ambulatory smear and Xpert MTB/Rif negative HIV infected patients with presumptive pulmonary TB in Uganda: a prospective study.

Simon Walusimbi, Fred Semitala, Freddie Bwanga, Melles Haile, Ayesha De Costa, Lucian Davis, Moses Joloba, Sven Hoffner, Moses Kamya

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Pan African medical journal, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 41% 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

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. The uncertainty of tuberculosis diagnosis.The Lancet. Infectious diseases · 2020
    Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
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

9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Simon WalusimbiDepartment of Microbiology, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda; Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden; Makerere University Joint AIDS Program, Kampala, Uganda.
Fred SemitalaMakerere University Joint AIDS Program, Kampala, Uganda; Department of Internal Medicine, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
Freddie BwangaDepartment of Microbiology, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
Melles HaileDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden; Department of Microbiology, Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden.
Ayesha De CostaDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden.
Lucian DavisUniversity of California San Francisco, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, San Francisco, United States.
Moses JolobaDepartment of Microbiology, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
Sven HoffnerDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden; Department of Microbiology, Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden.
Moses KamyaDepartment of Internal Medicine, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
Makerere University · UGPublic Health Agency of Sweden · SEKarolinska Institutet · SEUniversity of California, San Francisco · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionDiagnostic guidelines for Tuberculosis (TB) in HIV infected patients previously relied on microscopy where the value of initial antibiotic treatment for exclusion of pulmonary TB (PTB) was limited. New guidelines rely on the Xpert MTB Rif test (Xpert). However, the value of the antibiotic treatment remains unclear particularly in individuals who are smear-negative and Xpert-negative-given Xpert has only moderate sensitivity for smear-negative PTB. We assessed an algorithm involving initial treatment with antibiotics prior empiric TB treatment in HIV patients with presumptive PTB who were both smear and Xpert negative.

methodsWe performed a prospective study with six month follow-up to establish patient response to a course of broad spectrum antibiotics prior empiric TB treatment between March 2012 and June 2013. We calculated the proportion of patients who responded to the antibiotic treatment and those who did not. We computed the crude and adjusted odds ratios with their 95% confidence intervals, for response to the antibiotic treatment on various patient characteristics. We report treatment outcomes for patients who received broad spectrum antibiotics only or who were initiated empiric TB treatment.

resultsOur cohort comprised 162 smear-negative and Xpert-negative patients, of whom 59% (96 of 162) were female, 81% (131 of 162) were on antiretroviral therapy (ART) for a median of 8.7 months. Overall, 88% (141 of 160) responded to the antibiotic treatment, 8% (12 of 160) got empiric TB treatment and 4% (7 out of 160) were treated for other respiratory disease. The odds of improvement on antibiotics were lower in patients with advanced HIV disease than in patients with early HIV disease. Adjusted odds ratios were significant for HIV clinical stage (AOR; 0.038,) and duration on ART (AOR; 1.038,).

conclusionThe majority of HIV patients with presumptive PTB with smear-negative and Xpert negative results improved on the antibiotic treatment and did not require empiric TB treatment. Initial antibiotic treatment appeared more successful in patients with less advanced HIV disease. Findings from our study suggest it is useful to initiate HIV infected patients with presumptive PTB having smear and Xpert negative results on an initial course of antibiotic treatment prior empiric TB treatment.

Indexed as

Practice Guidelines as TopicAdultAlgorithmsAntibiotics, AntitubercularAnti-HIV AgentsCohort StudiesFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHIV InfectionsHumansMaleMiddle AgedMolecular Diagnostic TechniquesProspective StudiesSputumTreatment OutcomeAntibiotics, AntitubercularAnti-HIV AgentsalgorithmHIVoutcomessmear-negativestrategyTBXpert-negative

Identifiers

PMID27303572
PMCPMC4894731
OpenAlexW2317118021

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.