title: Screening for pulmonary tuberculosis using chest radiography in new employees in an industrial park in Taiwan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is prevalent in Taiwan, but it is suspected that its occurrence has been underestimated by the National TB Surveillance Program. A pre-employment health examination is mandated by law in Taiwan, providing a mechanism to assess the occurrence of TB more accurately.
  
  
  METHODS
  A pre-employment TB screening program of an industrial park was used to evaluate the performance of the National TB Surveillance Program in Taiwan. The yields of the pre-employment TB screening, using chest radiography from July 2004 to June 2005, were compared with corresponding results of the National TB Surveillance Program.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 17,105 new employees with an even gender distribution (men:women ratio, 50.2%:49.8%) underwent screening during the study period. Among the participants, 22 (128.6 per 100,000) new patients with pulmonary TB were diagnosed, and 7 (31.8%) of the patients had positive bacteriology findings. Compared with the results of the National TB Surveillance Program, the pre-employment screening had a much higher yield (128 vs. 47 per 100,000, P<.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The yield of the active surveillance program through mandatory screening was much higher than that of the National TB Surveillance Program, which is a passive reporting system. The results of this study highlight the need for more active TB surveillance efforts in endemic areas like Taiwan.
authors.affiliation: Tainan Science-Based Industrial Park Clinic, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shih-Bin
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Chien-Fang
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.forename: Cheng-Ta
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Kow-Tong
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ching-Yih
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: How-Ran
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008400:Mass Chest X-Ray; D016272:Occupational Health; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*