title: Keith Edwards score for diagnosis of tuberculosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the applicability of Keith Edwards scoring system for the diagnosis of childhood tuberculosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and one children aged 2 months to 12 years who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were evaluated with Keith Edwards score. The diagnosis of tuberculosis by Keith Edwards score and the definitive reference were compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 65 children diagnosed as having tuberculosis by the definitive reference, 59 had a Keith Edwards score of >7. Four children had a score of >7 but were not suffering from tuberculosis. The sensitivity and specificity of this score have been found to be 91% and 88% respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In select population with indicative clinical features, Keith Edwards score can be a definitive guideline for the diagnosis of childhood tuberculosis. However, more studies are required for the validation of this clinical score before it can be used as a definitive diagnostic reference standard for tuberculosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Pondicherry, India.
authors.forename: Shyam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Narayan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mahadevan
authors.forename: V Tiroumourougane
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Serane
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014374:Tuberculin Test; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis*