Symptoms in patients attending services for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in Sudan.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the variation in clinical features of individuals presenting to a health facility with chest symptoms according to their ultimate diagnosis.


METHODS
Of 16735 patients (52.6% males and 47.4% females) presenting at respiratory centres in seven states in Sudan, 5338 patients were identified with respiratory tract symptoms: 2917 (54.6%) men and 2421 (45.4%) women, with a mean age of 32 years. Those who had cough for more than 3 weeks that was not responsive to a course of antibiotics were screened by microscopy of two or three sputum specimens and chest radiography.


RESULTS
A total of 504 (9.44%) were smear-positive, 259 (4.85%) were smear-negative, and 166 (3.11%) had extra-pulmonary tuberculosis, of whom 59 (1.11%) had pleural involvement; the remaining 4409 suspects (82.6%) were non-tuberculous.


CONCLUSIONS
Tuberculosis patients had a constellation of presenting symptoms, with the principal symptom being cough for more than 3 weeks. The accompanying symptoms with greatest predicted significance were weight loss, tiredness and night sweats.
El-Sony
A I
AI
National Tuberculosis Programme, Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan. aelsony@hotmail.com
Mustafa
S A
SA
Khamis
A H
AH
Sobhi
S
S
Enarson
D A
DA
Baraka
O Z
OZ
Bjune
G
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003371:Cough / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D005221:Fatigue / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012120:Respiration Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology; D013397:Sudan; D013997:Time Factors; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D015431:Weight Loss