title: The national status of tuberculosis using nationwide medical records survey of patients with tuberculosis in Korea.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The epidemiology of tuberculosis (TB) has been assessed based on the data of the analysis of TB patients notified to the surveillance system in Korea. However, the national status of TB is not validated through this surveillance system. The objective is to determine the epidemiology of TB and to understand the accurate status of TB patients treated in private institutions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical records of 53,579 patients who had been diagnosed with TB in 2008 were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 53,579 patients, the number of sputum smear positive cases was 15,639(29.2%) and the number of new cases was 39,191 (73.1%). The drug resistance rate of new cases was 5.3%, while the rate stood at 13.3% for TB patients with treatment history. The number of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) patients was 2,472 (4.6%), which consists of 2.9% of new cases and 9.3% of TB patients with prior treatment history. The number of extensively drug-resistant TB patients was 749 (1.4%), consisting of 1.1% of new cases and 2.2% of TB patients with prior treatment history. In terms of treatment outcomes, 66.4% of all TB patients, 70.5% of new cases, 64.4% of relapse cases, and 46.8% of MDR-TB cases were cured or completed. It was inferred that in 2008, the total number of TB patients reached 70,767, 145.6 per 100,000 people (95% confidence interval, 145.5~145.7).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that the medical records review of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) data can be very effective in promoting the understanding of the current status of TB in private institutions.
authors.affiliation: Division of HIV and TB Control, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cheongwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Yoon-Sung
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Sung-Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Yoo-Kyung
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Boo
authors.forename: Eun-Suk
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Hyun Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seung-Hee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Kyung-In
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Na
authors.forename: En-Hi
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Sang-Sook
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Shin
keywords: Data Collection; Disease Notification; Epidemiology; Medical Records; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant