• Godfrey Ekuka, Ismael Kawooya, Edward Kayongo, Ronald Ssenyonga, Frank Mugabe, Peter Awongo Chaiga, Andrew Nsawotebba, Hannock Tweya, and Rhona Mijumbi-Deve.
• National TB Reference Laboratory, Plot 106-1062 Butabika Road, Luzira, Kampala, Uganda.
• Afr Health Sci. 2020 Jun 1; 20 (2): 633-640.

BackgroundDrop out of presumptive TB individuals before making a final diagnosis poses a danger to the individual and their community. We aimed to determine the proportion of these presumptive TB drop outs and their associated factors in Bugembe Health Centre, Jinja, Uganda.MethodsWe used data from the DHIS2, presumptive and laboratory registers of Bugembe Health Centre IV for 2017. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the population characteristics. A modified Poisson regression model via the generalized linear model (GLM) with log link and robust standard errors was used for bivariate and multivariate analysis.We used data from the DHIS2, presumptive and laboratory registers of Bugembe Health Centre IV for 2017. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the population characteristics. A modified Poisson regression model via the generalized linear model (GLM) with log link and robust standard errors was used for bivariate and multivariate analysis.ResultAmong the 216 registered presumptive TB patients who were less than 1% of patients visiting the outpatients' department, 40.7% dropped out before final diagnosis was made. Age and HIV status were significantly associated with pre-diagnostic drop out while gender and distance from the health center were not.ConclusionA high risk to individuals and the community is posed by the significant proportion of presumptive TB patients dropping out before final diagnosis. Health systems managers need to consider interventions targeting young persons, male patients, HIV positive persons.© 2020 Ekuka G et al.

27 keywords...

hide…