Do women with tuberculosis have a lower likelihood of getting diagnosed? Prevalence and case detection of sputum smear positive pulmonary TB, a population-based study from Vietnam.
OBJECTIVE
The aim was to estimate the gender-specific prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) through screening. A further aim was to calculate case detection within the Vietnamese National TB program.


METHODS
A population-based survey of 35,832 adults was performed within an existing sociodemographic longitudinal study in Bavi district, northern Vietnam. Cases were identified by a screening question about prolonged cough and further diagnosed with sputum examination and a chest X-ray.


RESULTS
The estimated prevalence of pulmonary TB among men was 90/100,000 (95% CI 45-135/100,000) and among women 110/100,000 (95% CI 63-157/100,000). Case detection in the district was estimated to 39% (95% CI 20-76%) among men and 12% (95% CI 6-26%) among women.


CONCLUSIONS
TB prevalence was similar among men and women. Case detection among men and women was significantly lower than the reported national case detection of 80%, and there was a significant underdetection of female cases. These findings warrant actions, and emphasize the need to perform similar studies in different contexts.
Thorson
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A
Division of International Health, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden. Anna.Thorson@phs.ki.se
Hoa
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Long
N H
NH
Allebeck
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P
Diwan
V K
VK
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014744:Vietnam / Q000453:epidemiology