title: Pretreatment sputum smear grade and smear positivity during follow-up of TB patients in Ahmedabad, India.
abstract: In Ahmedabad, India, a retrospective record review was undertaken among 2842 sputum smear-positive tuberculosis patients registered for treatment from April to September 2011 to assess the association of pretreatment sputum smear grade with sputum positivity and the additional yield of a second sputum sample during each follow-up examination. Respectively 39%, 26%, 28% and 7% of patients had pretreatment sputum grade 3+, 2+, 1+ and scanty. The higher the pretreatment sputum grade, the higher the proportion found positive during various follow-up periods. Overall, the additional yield of the second sputum sample was <2%; it did not vary with pretreatment smear grading.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Government of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, India.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Government of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, India.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dave
authors.affiliation: International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, South-East Asia Regional Office, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Satyanarayana
authors.affiliation: International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, South-East Asia Regional Office, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: A M V
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: World Health Organization Country Office for India, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Resource Group for Education and Advocacy for Community Health, Chennai, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ananthakrishnan
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Government of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, India.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ratnu
keywords: incremental yield; pretreatment sputum smear grade; sputum smear positivity