Variations in the quality of tuberculosis care in urban India: A cross-sectional, standardized patient study in two cities

by Ada Kwan, Benjamin Daniels, Vaibhav Saria, Srinath Satyanarayana, Ramnath Subbaraman, Andrew McDowell, Sofi Bergkvist, Ranendra K. Das, Veena Das, Jishnu Das, Madhukar Pai BackgroundIndia has the highest burden of tuberculosis (TB). Although most patients with TB in India seek care from the private sector, there is limited evidence on quality of TB care or its correlates. Following our validation study on the standardized patient (SP) method for TB, we utilized SPs to examine quality of adult TB care among health providers with different qualifications in 2 Indian cities. Methods and findingsDuring 2014 –2017, pilot programs engaged the private health sector to improve TB management in Mumbai and Patna. Nested within these projects, to obtain representative, baseline measures of quality of TB care at the city level, we recruited 24 adults to be SPs. They were trained to portray 4 TB “case scena rios” representing various stages of disease and diagnostic progression. Between November 2014 and August 2015, the SPs visited representatively sampled private providers stratified by qualification: (1) allopathic providers with Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degrees or higher a nd (2) non-MBBS providers with alternative medicine, minimal, or no qualifications.Our main outcome was case-specific correct management benchmarked against the Standards for TB Care in India (STCI). Using ANOVA, we assessed variation in correct management and quality outcomes across...
Source: PLoS Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Source Type: research