Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28875155›Full record

ArticleOpen forum infectious diseases2017

Risk of Tuberculosis Infection and Disease for Health Care Workers: An Updated Meta-Analysis.

Lydia Uden, Ella Barber, Nathan Ford, Graham S Cooke

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Open forum infectious diseases, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 87 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
87citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
8.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% 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

87 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 157 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. Trial
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  8. Article
  9. Structural guidelines for the sustainability of the tuberculosis infection control planBiomedica : revista del Instituto Nacional de Salud · 2026
    Article
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  11. Article
  12. Article
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  14. Article
  15. Tuberculosis: An Ongoing Global Threat.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026
    Review
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

27 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Lydia UdenDivision of Infectious Diseases, Imperial College London.
Ella BarberDivision of Infectious Diseases, Imperial College London.
Nathan FordCentre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Graham S CookeDivision of Infectious Diseases, Imperial College London.
Imperial College London · GBMédecins Sans Frontières‎ · GBWellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa · ZA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTuberculosis (TB) remains a major challenge to global health. Healthcare workers (HCWs) appear to be at increased risk of TB compared with the general population, despite efforts to scale up infection control and reduce nosocomial TB transmission. This review aims to provide an updated estimate of the occupational risk of latent TB infection (LTBI) and active TB among HCWs compared with the general population.

methodsA systematic review was performed to identify studies published over the last 10 years reporting TB prevalence or incidence among HCWs and a control group. Pooled effect estimates were calculated to determine the risk of infection.

resultsTwenty-one studies met the inclusion criteria, providing data on 30961 HCWs across 16 countries. Prevalence of LTBI among HCWs was 37%, and mean incidence rate of active TB was 97/100000 per year. Compared with the general population, the risk of LTBI was greater for HCWs (odds ratio [OR], 2.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.61-3.20), and the incidence rate ratio for active TB was 2.94 (95% CI, 1.67-5.19). Comparing tuberculin skin test and interferon-gamma release assay, OR for LTBI was found to be 1.72 and 5.61, respectively.

conclusionsThe overall risk of both LTBI and TB to HCWs continues to be significantly higher than that of the general population, consistent with previous findings. This study highlights the continuing need for improvements in infection control and HCW screening programs.

Indexed as

healthcare workersincidenceoccupational riskprevalencetuberculosis

Identifiers

PMID28875155
PMCPMC5575844
OpenAlexW2751044302

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.