Diagnosis and Treatment of Childhood Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Cross-Sectional Study of Practices among Paediatricians in Private Sector, Mumbai

Table 3

Practices related to diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in a child as reported by paediatricians in Mumbai.

Diagnostic practices^±	Number	Percent
Symptoms that raise suspicion ()
Prolonged fever	56	88.9
Cough for more than 2-3 weeks^#	49	77.8
Loss of weight	46	73.0
Contact with/family history of TB	42	66.7
Loss of appetite	21	33.3
Signs that raise suspicion ()
Signs of malnutrition	48	77.4
Matted lymph nodes	47	75.8
Respiratory signs (crepitation/rhonchi)	43	69.4
Hepatomegaly	12	19
Splenomegaly	11	17
Investigation advised when patient reports with symptoms ()
Chest X-ray	59	93.7
Tuberculin skin test	55	87.3
Complete blood count	49	77.8
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate	46	73.0
Sputum for presence of acid fast bacilli^#	24	38.1
Immunoglobulins	7	11.1
Gamma interferon	3	4.8
Advising X-ray and/or tuberculin skin test along with sputum^# ()	24	100.0
Advising GL or BAL for inducing sputum if the child is not able to produce sputum^# ()	21	32.8
Investigation advised when patient reports with X-ray chest suggestive of tuberculosis ()
Tuberculin skin test	42	66.7
Complete blood count	31	49.2
Sputum for presence of acid fast bacilli^#	21	32.8
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate	31	29.2
Others	3	4.8

 ^±Multiple responses; five most common symptoms and signs are presented; # denotes practice in line with International Standards for TB Care; GL: gastric lavage and BAL: bronchoalveolar lavage.