Active Case Finding of Pulmonary Tuberculosis through Screening of Respiratory Symptomatics Using Sputum Microscopy: Is It Time to Change the Paradigm?

Background. One of the main strategies for the early detection of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is through the screening of individuals with symptoms compatible with PTB. Although this is programmatic strategy for active case finding, its yield is not well known. Objective. To determine the yield of pulmonary tuberculosis active case finding through the screening of respiratory symptomatic (RS) patients at a general hospital. Methods. RS patients were defined as subjects complaining of cough and/or sputum for a period of 2 or more weeks. Outpatients and their companions were approached while they waited in the outpatient care areas of the hospital to detect RS. Two samples from different days or 2 samples taken 2 hours apart on the same day were collected. Results. 122 RS patients were identified. Fifty-seven patients (46.7%) had at least one sputum sample analyzed. Three patients presented a positive smear and 2 were culture positive; neither had upper airway symptoms. None of the patients with productive cough and upper airway symptoms had a positive smear (P = 0.07). Only 19 (33.3%) returned to the laboratory to retrieve their results. Conclusion. Current strategy to screen RS patients based only on clinical data has a low compliance. Specific strategies to increase compliance (removal of barriers, incentives, etc.) should be implemented.