ArticleInfection and drug resistance2026
Risk Factors for False-Negative T-SPOT.TB Results in Bacteriologically Confirmed Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Retrospective Cohort Study of 4,931 Patients.
Article in Infection and drug resistance, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Purpose: T-SPOT.TB is an interferon-γ release assay that aids in detecting Patients and Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 4,931 adults with bacteriologically confirmed PTB hospitalized at Fuzhou Pulmonary Hospital, Fujian Province, China, between January 2018 and September 2025. The primary outcome was a false-negative T-SPOT.TB result. Demographic characteristics, comorbidities, radiological findings, inflammatory markers, and T-lymphocyte subset counts were collected. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify independent predictors, while restricted cubic spline (RCS) analyses explored potential nonlinear dose-response relationships. Results: False-negative T-SPOT.TB results occurred in 437 patients (8.86%). Compared with patients with positive results, those with false-negative results were older (median, 61 vs 57 years), had higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratios (NLR; 3.85 vs 3.25), and had lower CD4⁺ T-cell counts (540 vs 594 cells/μL) (all Conclusion: Advanced age, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, elevated NLR, and reduced CD4⁺ T-cell counts increase the likelihood of false-negative T-SPOT.TB results. In high-risk patients with TB-compatible imaging, a negative T-SPOT.TB result should not preclude further microbiological evaluation or diagnostic investigation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.