title: Pleural tuberculosis in the state of Roraima, Brazil, between 2005 and 2013: quality of diagnosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the quality of diagnosis and the epidemiological profile of patients with pleural tuberculosis in the state of Roraima, Brazil, in order to provide technical support for the development and implementation of public policies to combat the disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional study designed to determine the prevalence of pleural forms of tuberculosis in Roraima between 2005 and 2013 and to evaluate the diagnostic criteria used, as well as their determinants. This study was based on secondary data from the Brazilian Case Registry Database, including all reported cases of pleural tuberculosis in the state during the study period. Diagnoses based on bacteriological or histopathological confirmation were defined as high-quality diagnoses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 1,395 cases of tuberculosis reported during the study period, 116 (8.3%) were cases of pleural tuberculosis, accounting for 38.9% of all cases of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in the sample. The incidence rate of pleural tuberculosis did not follow the downward trend observed for the pulmonary form of the disease during the same period. The prevalence of cases with a high-quality diagnosis was 28.5% (95% CI: 20.4-37.6%). In a univariate analysis, none of the demographic or clinical characteristics collected from the database were found to have a significant impact on the outcome (as explanatory variables).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The quality of the diagnoses in our study sample was considered unsatisfactory. Limited access to specific diagnostic methods might have contributed to these results.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Roraima, Boa Vista, RR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Roraima, Boa Vista, RR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Allex Jardim da
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Roraima, Boa Vista, RR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Sandra Maria Franco
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Buenafuente
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D012015:Reference Standards; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014396:Tuberculosis, Pleural / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult