PMID- 17352095
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20070403
LR  - 20070313
IS  - 1027-3719 (Print)
IS  - 1027-3719 (Linking)
VI  - 11
IP  - 3
DP  - 2007 Mar
TI  - Operational conditions influencing the proficiency of AFB microscopy services in 
      the Philippines.
PG  - 293-9
AB  - SETTING: The microscopy services of the Philippine National Tuberculosis 
      Programme (NTP). OBJECTIVE: To investigate how operational conditions in field 
      microscopy centres (MC) affect proficiency. DESIGN: In 2004, a newly developed 
      external quality assessment system (blinded rechecking) for acid-fast bacilli 
      (AFB) microscopy employing lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) was introduced 
      into the NTP by the Philippine government. Performance reported by the quality 
      assurance centres (QACs) of the four provinces and four cities was analysed. 
      RESULT: There was no significant difference in rechecking results between small 
      MCs examining fewer than 166 slides (500 slides/3 sputum samples per suspect) and 
      larger MCs in the provinces. City MCs recorded better performance than those of 
      the provinces. A city QAC covers only five MCs in average, whereas a provincial 
      QAC covers 38. The average distance between city QACs and MCs is much shorter 
      (3.2 km) than in the provinces (60.5 km). CONCLUSION: The number of MCs to be 
      covered by each QAC and the distances between QAC and MCs are the dominant 
      factors influencing the quality of AFB microscopy. Combining a few neighbouring 
      MCs to reduce the number of MCs and/or provision of sufficient travel funds and 
      timely use of vehicles, particularly in the provinces, are recommended.
FAU - Endo, S
AU  - Endo S
AD  - Research Institute of Tuberculosis, Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association, Tokyo, 
      Japan. eshochan@f7.dion.ne.jp
FAU - Trono, M
AU  - Trono M
FAU - Fujiki, A
AU  - Fujiki A
FAU - Macalalad, N
AU  - Macalalad N
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - France
TA  - Int J Tuberc Lung Dis
JT  - The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal 
      of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
JID - 9706389
SB  - IM
MH  - Diagnostic Errors/statistics & numerical data
MH  - Humans
MH  - Laboratories/*standards
MH  - Microscopy/*standards
MH  - Philippines/epidemiology
MH  - Population Surveillance
MH  - *Quality Assurance, Health Care
MH  - Sampling Studies
MH  - Sputum/*microbiology
MH  - Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/*diagnosis/epidemiology
EDAT- 2007/03/14 09:00
MHDA- 2007/04/04 09:00
CRDT- 2007/03/14 09:00
PHST- 2007/03/14 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2007/04/04 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2007/03/14 09:00 [entrez]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2007 Mar;11(3):293-9.