Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42639561›Full record

ArticlePublic health action2026

Quality improvement package for severe tuberculosis triage in Tamil Nadu, India.

A Jeyakumar, S Kalaiselvi, D Nair, R Vijayaprabha, K Gayathri, D Kabir, J M Melfha, T Bhatnagar, R Srinivasan, M Balusamy and 6 more

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Article in Public health action, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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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

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

A JeyakumarICMR National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, India.
S KalaiselviAll India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Madurai, India.
D NairICMR National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, Chennai, India.
R VijayaprabhaICMR National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, India.
K GayathriICMR National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, India.
D KabirICMR National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, India.
J M MelfhaICMR National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, India.
T BhatnagarICMR National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, India.
R SrinivasanICMR National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, India.
M BalusamyICMR National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, India.
S ShanmugasundaramICMR National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, India.
Alicia CatherineICMR National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, India.
N NithyaICMR National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, India.
R VenkateshwarICMR National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, India.
A FrederickDirectorate of Medical and Rural Health Services, Government of Tamil Nadu, Chennai, India.
H D ShewadeICMR National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, India.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

settingTamil Nadu Kasanoi Erappila Thittam (TN-KET) is a statewide differentiated tuberculosis (TB) care initiative to reduce TB deaths involving triaging for severe illness at diagnosis and referral of severely ill for appropriate inpatient care (2022-2025). Eleven out of 30 districts did not reduce their TB death rates despite achieving the target process indicators.

objectiveTo assess the implementation fidelity and effect of a quality improvement (QI) package to improve triage coverage and quality in the select 11 districts of Tamil Nadu.

designA quasi-experimental pre-post study was conducted between October 2024 to February 2025 (pre-QI) and June to December 2025 (post-QI). The QI package was introduced in poorly performing districts. Data were extracted from

resultsIntegrating the QI package within TN-KET achieved high fidelity. The extent of missing triage data reduced from 38% to 12%, and median delays in entry of triage details reduced from 13 to 9 days and early TB deaths reduced from 3.7% to 3.3%.

conclusionThe QI package improved documentation and timeliness of triage assessment, contributing to modest reductions in early TB deaths. District-level supervision and triaging at diagnosis for early admission will sustain the reduced death rate.

Indexed as

M-PHISORquality improvementSORT ITtriagetuberculosis

Identifiers

PMID42639561
PMCPMC13502725

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