title: Skin testing for tuberculosis in university teaching hospitals--is there a problem?
abstract: We performed four annual audits of tuberculin tests performed on hospitalized patients at a university teaching hospital complex. Each audit assessed if tests were performed and read correctly. House staff performed skin testing in years 1 to 3. Despite interventions of teaching and then of written instructions on skin testing, performance was poor. When testing was turned over in year 4 to trained infection control practitioners, performance approached 100%. We conclude that university teaching hospitals should assess skin-testing performance.
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, PA 15213-2582, USA.
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Mabon
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ciardi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nouri
authors.forename: F L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Ruben
mesh_terms: D004282:Documentation / Q000592:standards; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods; D016357:Infection Control Practitioners / Q000592:standards*; D007318:Inservice Training / Q000592:standards; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008485:Medical Audit; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000592:standards; D010414:Pennsylvania; D015397:Program Evaluation; D014374:Tuberculin Test / Q000592:standards*