Sana Ahmed, Zaheer Ali, Muhammad Yahya Noori, Shaheen Sharafat.
Presentation Stage in Smear Positive patients of Tuberculosis in Karachi, Pakistan: a Gender Based Comparison.
Pak J Chest Med May ;23(2):53-6.

Background and Aim: Stage of disease at the time of presentation is an important aspect of community based intervention of Tuberculosis. This study was carried out to investigate the association between disease stage at presentation and gender of the patient at the time of diagnosis in smear positive patients of pulmonary tuberculosis. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study of the record of Tuberculosis Laboratory at Dow University of Health Sciences, Pakistan, was performed, comprising of culture confirmed 1201 true-positive patients. Patients were classified as early or late presenters on the basis of sputum smear bacterial load. Results: The positivity rates among both the genders were comparable. Chisquare test showed no significant difference (X 0.8, df=1, p=0.368). Approximately two-thirds of patients were late presenters. Age-wise stratification showed statistically significant difference among different age groups in females (X 6.4, d f= 2, p=0.04). Conclusion: Though affects every aspect of TB, we found that in our setting the stage of disease at presentation is not related to gender and both groups generally present at the same stage across different age groups. However, there is a high proportion of later presenters, and an early detection might considerably decrease spread of disease.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com