Muhammad Khalid, Shamshad Rasul, Saulat UIIah Khan, Saqib Saeed, Malik Nadeem Imran.
Gender differences in delays to Tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment outcome.
Pak J Chest Med Jan ;10(4):11-6.

This study aimed at exploring the perspectives of tuberculosis patients with special reference to gender differences in delays to diagnosis and treatment outcome. The study was conducted in the institute of Chest Medicine, King Edward Medical College/Mayo Hospital, Lahore from June, 2002 to June, 2003. During the study time, 240 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis were enrolled. Amongst 240 patients, 150 were men and 90 were women (male/female ratio 1: 0.6). As regards habitat; 145 were rural and 95 were urban. All patients underwent sputum smear microscopy for acid fast bacilli (AFB). The sputum smear was positive in 28% men and 27% women for AFB. Women had a significant longer total delay than men for diagnosis (P<0.001). The median total delay was 2.8 months for men and 3.8 months for women. Treatment was successful in 88.8% of females and 90% of male patients. In conclusion, female patients were longer delayed for TB diagnosis and no significant gender bias was observed in treatment outcome.

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