PMID- 26220804
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20160215
LR  - 20220410
IS  - 1471-2458 (Electronic)
IS  - 1471-2458 (Linking)
VI  - 15
DP  - 2015 Jul 29
TI  - Factors associated with DELAY in diagnosis among tuberculosis patients in Hohoe 
      Municipality, Ghana.
PG  - 721
LID - 10.1186/s12889-015-1922-z [doi]
LID - 721
AB  - BACKGROUND: Any delay in diagnosis and consequently treatment of TB patients not 
      only increases the infectivity of the disease in the community, but may also lead 
      to more advance disease state, which may result in more complications and expose 
      patients to higher risk of death. The aim of this study was to assess delays in 
      diagnosing new TB patients and the factors associated with these delays in Hohoe 
      Municipality of Ghana. METHODS: A cross sectional study was carried out among 73 
      new TB Patients, 15 years or older, registered between 1st June, 2013 and 31st 
      May, 2014 in Hohoe Municipality. Questionnaires were administered to patients to 
      evaluate factors related to delay by patients in seeking care, delays at 
      healthcare facilities, and total diagnostic delay. Logistic regression was used 
      to determine the factors associated with patient delay (>30 days), healthcare 
      services delay (>15 days), and total delay (>45 days). RESULTS: The median total 
      delay was 104 days (inter-quartile range (IQR):17-191). The median patient delay 
      was 59 days (IQR: 5-123), and the median healthcare services delay was 45 days 
      (IQR: 38-128). Not medically insured (AOR = 6.12; 95 % CI: 1.26-29.88; P < 0.025) 
      and perceived stigma (AOR = 5.30; 95 % CI: 1.33-21.18; P < 0.018) were risk 
      factors associated with prolonged patient delay. Multiple healthcare contact 
      following signs and symptoms (AOR = 10.26; 95 %CI: 2.95-35.72; P < 0.0001) was 
      the only risk factor associated with prolonged healthcare services delay. 
      CONCLUSION: There is a considerable delay in TB case detection mainly due to 
      patients delay in seeking healthcare. The factors associated with patients' delay 
      include lack of medical insurance, perceived stigma, and making multiple 
      healthcare encounters. Health system strengthening towards decentralizing TB 
      diagnosis and management, raising public awareness about the disease, training of 
      healthcare providers, and collaborating with non-formal healthcare providers may 
      reduce long delays in the management of TB.
FAU - Osei, Eric
AU  - Osei E
AD  - Department of Population and Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health, 
      University of Health and Allied Sciences, Hohoe, Ghana. ericusonline@yahoo.com.
FAU - Akweongo, Patricia
AU  - Akweongo P
AD  - Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Accra, 
      Ghana. akweongo@gmail.com.
FAU - Binka, Fred
AU  - Binka F
AD  - University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana. fred.binka@gmail.com.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20150729
PL  - England
TA  - BMC Public Health
JT  - BMC public health
JID - 100968562
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adult
MH  - Cross-Sectional Studies
MH  - Delayed Diagnosis/*statistics & numerical data
MH  - Female
MH  - Ghana
MH  - Health Services Accessibility/*statistics & numerical data
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Patient Acceptance of Health Care/*statistics & numerical data
MH  - Risk Factors
MH  - Socioeconomic Factors
MH  - Time-to-Treatment/statistics & numerical data
MH  - Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/*diagnosis/epidemiology
MH  - Young Adult
PMC - PMC4517499
EDAT- 2015/07/30 06:00
MHDA- 2016/02/16 06:00
PMCR- 2015/07/29
CRDT- 2015/07/30 06:00
PHST- 2014/12/15 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2015/06/09 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2015/07/30 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2015/07/30 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2016/02/16 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2015/07/29 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1186/s12889-015-1922-z [pii]
AID - 1922 [pii]
AID - 10.1186/s12889-015-1922-z [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - BMC Public Health. 2015 Jul 29;15:721. doi: 10.1186/s12889-015-1922-z.