Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31720425›Full record

ArticleJournal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases2019

Quality of care for patients evaluated for tuberculosis in the context of Xpert MTB/RIF scale-up.

Katherine Farr, Talemwa Nalugwa, Christopher Ojok, Mariam Nantale, Sarah Nabwire, Denis Oyuku, Priya B Shete, Alvina H Han, Katherine Fielding, Moses Joloba and 6 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. 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
    Article
  2. Article
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  8. Implementation science to improve the quality of tuberculosis diagnostic services in Uganda.Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2020
    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

16 authors.

Katherine FarrDivision of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Talemwa NalugwaSchool of Medicine, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
Christopher OjokSchool of Medicine, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
Mariam NantaleSchool of Medicine, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
Sarah NabwireSchool of Medicine, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
Denis OyukuSchool of Medicine, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
Priya B SheteDivision of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Alvina H HanColumbia College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Katherine FieldingFaculty of Epidemiology and Population Health and TB Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Moses JolobaNational Tuberculosis and Leprosy Programme, Kampala, Uganda.
Frank MugabeNational Tuberculosis and Leprosy Programme, Kampala, Uganda.
David W DowdyDepartment of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Daj MooreFaculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases and TB Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
J Lucian DavisDepartment of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA.
Achilles KatambaSchool of Medicine, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
Adithya CattamanchiDivision of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Funding

Yale Clinical and Translational Science Award (U Component)UL1TR001863 · NCATS · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI John H. Krystal, LUCILA OHNO-MACHADO · 2016 to 2026
$102.9M
SIngle-saMPLE tuberculosis evaluation to facilitate linkage to care: The SIMPLE TB trialR01HL130192 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI CATTAMANCHI, ADITHYA · 2016 to 2020
$3.2M
Medical Research Council MR/R010161/1NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR001863NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL130192
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

rationaleMany high-burden countries are scaling-up Xpert MTB/RIF using a hub-and-spoke model. We evaluated the quality of care for patients undergoing TB evaluation at microscopy centers (spokes) linked to Xpert testing sites (hubs) in Uganda.

objectivesTo characterize the extent to which patients were receiving care in accordance with international and national guidelines.

methodsWe conducted a prospective cohort study of all adults with presumptive pulmonary TB at 24 health centers linked to Xpert testing sites. Health center staff photographed TB registers, and uploaded photos to a secure server bi-weekly. We assessed the proportion of patients (1) initiating testing; (2) completing testing; and (3) treated for confirmed TB within 14 days. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN

resultsBetween January to December 2017, 6744 patients underwent evaluation for pulmonary TB. Only 1316 patients had sputum referred for Xpert testing, including 1075/3229 (33.3%) people living with HIV and 241/3515 (6.9%) without HIV. Of 119 patients confirmed to have TB by Xpert testing, 44 (36%) did not initiate treatment. There were significant losses along the entire diagnostic cascade of care, with only 5330/6744 (79.0%) patients having samples referred for sputum-based testing, 2978/5330 (55.9%) patients completing recommended testing if referred, and 313/418 (74.9%) patients initiating treatment within 14 days if confirmed to have TB.

conclusionsAlthough coverage of Xpert testing services across Uganda is high, the quality of care delivered to patients undergoing TB evaluation remains poor. Further research is needed to identify health system interventions to facilitate uptake of Xpert testing and high-quality care.

Indexed as

DiagnosisQuality of careTuberculosis

Identifiers

PMID31720425
PMCPMC6830152

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.