Patient, Healthcare System and Total Delay in Tuberculosis Diagnosis and Treatment Among Serbian Population.

Patient, Healthcare System and Total Delay in Tuberculosis Diagnosis and Treatment Among Serbian Population. Acta Clin Croat. 2018 Jun;57(2):257-263 Authors: Stjepanović M, Škodrić-Trifunović V, Radisavljević-Pavlović S, Roksandić-Milenković M, Milin-Lazović J, Babić U, Mašković J, Buha I, Stojković-Lalošević M, Stojković M, Mihailović-Vučinić V Abstract Currently, topical are studies that examine different reasons for delay of tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis and its impact on disease prognosis. The aim was to examine three time periods associated with treatment delay: patient related, health system related and total delay. This retrospective-prospective study included 100 consecutive patients hospitalized at Department of Pulmonology, Clinical Center of Serbia, in the period from March to December 2015. Study results showed median patient delay to be 92.5 days. Total delay was affected by patient related delay. Median healthcare delay was 18.5 days. Patients that reported excessive alcohol consumption were more likely to have prolonged time to seek medical help. Years of alcohol consumption yielded moderate positive correlation with patient related delay (r=0.362, p <0.001). Correlation between the number of cigarettes and patient delay was moderate, positive and statistically significant (r=0.314, p=0.001). Delay in seeking medical help was more likely in patients with negative family history of TB. There was no d...
Source: Acta Clinica Croatica - Category: General Medicine Tags: Acta Clin Croat Source Type: research