La cuerda dulce--a tolerability and acceptability study of a novel approach to specimen collection for diagnosis of paediatric pulmonary tuberculosis.
BACKGROUND
Recent data demonstrate the utility of the string test for the diagnosis of sputum-scarce HIV-associated TB in adults. We hypothesized that, if well-tolerated by children, this simple tool might offer a breakthrough in paediatric TB diagnosis. Thus the objective of this study, undertaken in the paediatric service of the Hospital Nacional Dos de Mayo, Lima, Perú, was to determine the tolerability and acceptability of the string test to paediatric TB suspects, their parents and nursing staff.


METHODS
22 paediatric subjects aged 3-14 years (median 8) under investigation for TB were invited to undergo 2 string tests (four-hour downtime each). Subjective and objective pain and discomfort rating scales were used to assess the perception of the subject, parent and attending nurse.


RESULTS
Patients as young as 4 years tolerated the procedure extremely well with 84% willing to undergo a second procedure. Peak discomfort at the time of swallowing and of string retrieval was mild (30% of maximum possible score) and brief as judged by visual analogue ratings and objective indicators. Good concordance of parent/child and objective/subjective ratings strengthened the validity of these findings.


CONCLUSIONS
The string test is well tolerated and achievable for most paediatric TB suspects as young as 4 years. A formal prospective paediatric efficacy study is now needed.
Chow
Felicia
F
Asociación Benéfica Proyectos en Informática, Salud, Medicina, y Agricultura (AB PRISMA), Lima, Perú. fchow@jhmi.edu
Espiritu
Nora
N
Gilman
Robert H
RH
Gutierrez
Rosmery
R
Lopez
Sonia
S
Escombe
A Roderick
AR
Evans
Carlton A W
CA
Moore
David A J
DA
D000293:Adolescent; D002214:Capsules; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003679:Deglutition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010146:Pain; D010568:Peru; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods*; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology
D002214:Capsules