Delay in diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis and its association with some social and personal characteristics in Markazi Province (2008-2014)

Tuberculosis is an important health challenge with a worldwide increasing trend, especially in developing countries. Early diagnosis and advances in the effective treatment are two of the key elements in tuberculosis control program. The current study was designed to determine the delay in diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis patients regarding to clinical signs and risk factors.
This is a historical cohort study that conducted with inclusion of 113 tuberculosis patients from Markazi Province of Iran (Saveh and Zarandieh) between 2008 to 2014. Data was provided by a self-structured questionnaire and patient’s medical records. Data was analyzed by t-test and analysis of variances.
The mean age of patients was 57.7±92.1 years, with 52.2% being females. The mean of total delay was 129.9±171 days; including patient 52.7±92.1, health system 47±91.9 and treatment 2.1days. The mean in diagnosis and treatment delay did not show significant differences with gender, marital and nationality of patients. But patients with coughing more than two weeks had shown lower patient’s delay. In addition, patients who had previous contact with tuberculosis patients showed shorter diagnosis’ delay (p Long delay in early diagnosis and treatment is the result of defect finding the cases of tuberculosis within the health system, especially in urban communities. Therefore, increasing the level of health awareness about signs of disease and clinical symptoms would be effective in accelerating the references of suspected people to the health systems