| Title |
Factors associated with DELAY in diagnosis among tuberculosis patients in Hohoe Municipality, Ghana
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
BMC Public Health, July 2015
|
| DOI | 10.1186/s12889-015-1922-z |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Eric Osei, Patricia Akweongo, Fred Binka |
| Abstract |
Any delay in diagnosis and consequently treatment of TB patients not only increases the infectivity of the disease in the community, but may also lead to more advance disease state, which may result in more complications and expose patients to higher risk of death. The aim of this study was to assess delays in diagnosing new TB patients and the factors associated with these delays in Hohoe Municipality of Ghana. A cross sectional study was carried out among 73 new TB Patients, 15 years or older, registered between 1st June, 2013 and 31st May, 2014 in Hohoe Municipality. Questionnaires were administered to patients to evaluate factors related to delay by patients in seeking care, delays at healthcare facilities, and total diagnostic delay. Logistic regression was used to determine the factors associated with patient delay (>30 days), healthcare services delay (>15 days), and total delay (>45 days). The median total delay was 104 days (inter-quartile range (IQR):17-191). The median patient delay was 59 days (IQR: 5-123), and the median healthcare services delay was 45 days (IQR: 38-128). Not medically insured (AOR = 6.12; 95 % CI: 1.26-29.88; P < 0.025) and perceived stigma (AOR = 5.30; 95 % CI: 1.33-21.18; P < 0.018) were risk factors associated with prolonged patient delay. Multiple healthcare contact following signs and symptoms (AOR = 10.26; 95 %CI: 2.95-35.72; P < 0.0001) was the only risk factor associated with prolonged healthcare services delay. There is a considerable delay in TB case detection mainly due to patients delay in seeking healthcare. The factors associated with patients' delay include lack of medical insurance, perceived stigma, and making multiple healthcare encounters. Health system strengthening towards decentralizing TB diagnosis and management, raising public awareness about the disease, training of healthcare providers, and collaborating with non-formal healthcare providers may reduce long delays in the management of TB. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 14 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 3 | 21% |
| Uganda | 1 | 7% |
| Italy | 1 | 7% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 7% |
| Nigeria | 1 | 7% |
| Unknown | 7 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 11 | 79% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 2 | 14% |
| Scientists | 1 | 7% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 359 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 1 | <1% |
| Ghana | 1 | <1% |
| Brazil | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 356 | 99% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 77 | 21% |
| Student > Bachelor | 58 | 16% |
| Researcher | 44 | 12% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 24 | 7% |
| Student > Postgraduate | 20 | 6% |
| Other | 44 | 12% |
| Unknown | 92 | 26% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 99 | 28% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 88 | 25% |
| Social Sciences | 22 | 6% |
| Immunology and Microbiology | 12 | 3% |
| Computer Science | 6 | 2% |
| Other | 33 | 9% |
| Unknown | 99 | 28% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 9. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 15 August 2015.
All research outputs
#4,061,567
of 24,810,360 outputs
Outputs from BMC Public Health
#4,531
of 16,458 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#48,297
of 268,754 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Public Health
#77
of 284 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,810,360 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 83rd percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 16,458 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 14.4. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 72% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 268,754 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 81% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 284 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 72% of its contemporaries.