title: Comparison of the tuberculin skin test and the QuantiFERON-TB Gold test in detecting latent tuberculosis in health care workers in Iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The tuberculin skin test (TST) and the QuantiFERON-TB Gold test (QFT) are used to identify latent tuberculosis infections (LTBIs). The aim of this study was to determine the agreement between these two tests among health care workers in Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study included 177 tuberculosis (TB) laboratory staff and 67 non-TB staff. TST indurations of 10 mm or more were considered positive. The Student's t-test and the chi-square test were used to compare the mean score and proportion of variables between the TB laboratory staff and the non-TB laboratory staff. Kappa statistics were used to evaluate the agreement between these tests, and logistic regression was used to assess the risk factors associated with positive results for each test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of LTBIs according to both the QFT and the TST was 17% (95% confidence interval [CI], 12% to 21%) and 16% (95% CI, 11% to 21%), respectively. The agreement between the QFT and the TST was 77.46%, with a kappa of 0.19 (95% CI, 0.04 to 0.34).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the prevalence of LTBI based on the QFT and the TST was not significantly different, the kappa statistic was low between these two tests for the detection of LTBIs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.|Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Akanlu, Kabudar-Ahang, Hamadan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mostafavi
authors.affiliation: Center for Diseases Control and Prevention, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.|Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahshid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nasehi
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.|Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Akanlu, Kabudar-Ahang, Hamadan, Iran.
authors.forename: Abdolrazagh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hashemi Shahraki
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.|Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Akanlu, Kabudar-Ahang, Hamadan, Iran.|Department of Bacteriology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Saber
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Esmaeili
authors.affiliation: Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.|Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
authors.forename: Ebrahim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ghaderi
authors.affiliation: Center for Diseases Control and Prevention, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharafi
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.|Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Amin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Doosti-Irani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D059425:Interferon-gamma Release Tests / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D055985:Latent Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014374:Tuberculin Test / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Health care workers; Latent tuberculosis; QuantiFERON-TB Gold; Tuberculin skin test