ArticleBMC health services research2023
Geographic availability of and physical accessibility to tuberculosis diagnostic tests in Ghana: a cross-sectional survey.
Article in BMC health services research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Factors associated with tuberculosis contact tracing from the perspective of patients: a cross-sectional survey across three districts in Ghana.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Drug resistance patterns and associated risk factors in pulmonary tuberculosis patients from selected hospitals in Ghana.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Operationalization of rapid molecular test coverage for tuberculosis in different international contexts: a scoping review.Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da U S P · 2026Article
- A mixed-method evaluation of the impact of introducing 52 digital X-ray systems in Ghanaian health facilities on tuberculosis case finding and quality of care.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Diagnostic accuracy of AI-assisted chest radiographs in tuberculosis screening: A Ghanaian clinical study.PloS one · 2026Article
- Patient mobility and travel distance to receive drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment, and their associations with loss to follow-up in Guizhou Province, China.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Article
- Evaluating the impact of decentralized testing for tuberculosis in Ghana: A simulation model.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Finding the missed millions: innovations to bring tuberculosis diagnosis closer to key populations.BMC global and public health · 2024Review
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11 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundIn Ghana, tuberculosis (TB) case detection is low (< 34%). Existing scientific evidence suggest access to TB diagnostic tests play an essential role in TB case detection, yet little has been scientifically documented on it in Ghana. This study, therefore, sought to map TB diagnosis sites, and describe the geographic availability and physical accessibility to TB diagnosis in six regions of Ghana to inform scale-up and future placement of TB diagnostic tests.
methodsWe assembled the geolocation and attribute data of all health facilities offering TB diagnosis in Upper West Region (UWR), Upper East Region (UER), Ahafo, North-East, Northern, and Savannah regions. QGIS was employed to estimate the distance and travel time to TB diagnosis sites within regions. Travel time estimates were based on assumed motorised tricycle speed of 20 km (km)/hour.
resultsOf the total 1584 health facilities in the six regions, 86 (5.4%) facilities were providing TB diagnostic testing services. This 86 TB diagnosis sites comprised 56 (65%) microscopy sites, 23 (27%) both microscopy and GeneXpert sites, and 7 (8%) GeneXpert only sites (8%). Of the 86 diagnosis sites, 40 (46%) were in the UER, follow by Northern Region with 16 (19%), 12 (14%) in UWR, 9 (10%) in Ahafo Region, 5 (6%) in North East, and 4 (5%) in Savannah Region. The overall estimated mean distance and travel time to the nearest TB diagnosis site was 23.3 ± 13.8 km and 67.6 ± 42.6 min respectively. Savannah Region recorded the longest estimated mean distance and travel time with 36.1 ± 14.6 km and 108.3 ± 43.9 min, whilst UER recorded the shortest with 10.2 ± 5.8 km and 29.1 ± 17.4 min. Based on a 10 km buffer of settlement areas, an estimated 75 additional TB diagnosis sites will be needed to improve access to TB diagnosis services across the six regions.
conclusionThis study highlights limited availability of TB diagnosis sites and poor physical accessibility to TB diagnosis sites across five out of the six regions. Targeted implementation of additional TB diagnosis sites is needed to reduce travel distances to ≤ 10 km.
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