Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30841929›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2019

Operationalization of bi-directional screening for tuberculosis and diabetes in private sector healthcare clinics in Karachi, Pakistan.

Mashal S Basir, Shifa S Habib, Syed M A Zaidi, Saira Khowaja, Hamidah Hussain, Rashida A Ferrand, Aamir J Khan

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC health services research, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
28citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
2.7field-weighted citation impact, top 9% 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

28 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  3. Number needed to screen for TB in clinical, structural or occupational risk groups.The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease · 2022
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  5. Diagnostic Yield of Tongue Swab- Compared to Sputum-Based Molecular Testing for Tuberculosis in Four High-Burden Countries.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026
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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

7 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Mashal S BasirInteractive Research & Development, 4th Floor, Woodcraft Building, Plot No. 3 & 3-A, Sector 47, Korangi Creek Road, Karachi, Pakistan. mashal.basir@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9332-9678
Shifa S HabibCommunity Health Solutions, 9th Floor, Al-Tijarah Building, Main Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi, Pakistan.
Syed M A ZaidiCommunity Health Solutions, 9th Floor, Al-Tijarah Building, Main Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi, Pakistan.
Saira KhowajaInteractive Research & Development, 4th Floor, Woodcraft Building, Plot No. 3 & 3-A, Sector 47, Korangi Creek Road, Karachi, Pakistan.
Hamidah HussainInteractive Research & Development, 4th Floor, Woodcraft Building, Plot No. 3 & 3-A, Sector 47, Korangi Creek Road, Karachi, Pakistan.
Rashida A FerrandInteractive Research & Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel St, Bloomsbury, London, WC1E 7HT, UK.
Aamir J KhanInteractive Research & Development, 4th Floor, Woodcraft Building, Plot No. 3 & 3-A, Sector 47, Korangi Creek Road, Karachi, Pakistan.
Interactive Research and Development · PKHealth Solutions (Sweden) · SELondon School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMany countries are facing overlapping epidemics of tuberculosis (TB) and diabetes mellitus (DM). Diabetes increases the overall risk of developing Tuberculosis (TB) and contributes to adverse treatment outcomes. Active screening for both diseases can reduce TB transmission and prevent the development of complications of DM. We investigated bi-directional TB-DM screening in Karachi, Pakistan, a country that ranks fifth among high TB burden countries, and has the seventh highest country burden for DM.

methodsBetween February to November 2014, community-based screeners identified presumptive TB and DM through verbal screening at private health clinics. Individuals with presumptive TB were referred for a chest X-ray and Xpert MTB/RIF. Presumptive DM cases had random blood glucose (RBS) tested. All individuals with bacteriologically positive TB were referred for diabetes testing (RBS). All pre-diabetics and diabetics were referred for a chest X-ray and Xpert MTB/RIF test. The primary outcomes of this study were uptake of TB and DM testing.

resultsA total of 450,385 individuals were screened, of whom 18,109 had presumptive DM and 90,137 had presumptive TB. 14,550 of these individuals were presumptive for both DM and TB. The uptake of DM testing among those with presumptive diabetes was 26.1% while the uptake of TB testing among presumptive TB cases was 5.9%. Despite efforts to promote bi-directional screening of TB and DM, the uptake of TB testing among pre-diabetes and diabetes cases was only 4.7%, while the uptake of DM testing among MTB positive cases was 21.8%.

conclusionWhile a high yield for TB was identified among pre-diabetics and diabetics along with a high yield of DM among individuals diagnosed with TB, there was a low uptake of TB testing amongst presumptive TB patients who were recorded as pre-diabetic or diabetic. Bi-directional screening for TB and DM which includes the integration of TB diagnostics, DM screening and TB-DM treatment within existing health care programs will need to address the operational challenges identified before implementing this as a strategy in public health programs.

Indexed as

Mass ScreeningPrivate SectorAdultAgedComorbidityCross-Sectional StudiesDiabetes MellitusEarly DiagnosisFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPakistanTuberculosisYoung AdultActive-case-findingBi-directional screeningDiabetesOperational constraintsTuberculosis

Identifiers

PMID30841929
PMCPMC6404337
OpenAlexW2935098186

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.