Research Article
Diagnostic Errors in Tuberculous Patients: A Multicenter Study from a Developing Country
Table 1
Characteristics of patients and their tubercular diseases.
| | Number of TB patients | 158 |
| | Age (mean ± SD) | 52.4 ± 21.1 (15–59) | | Male to female ratio | 1.26 | | Site of involvement | | | Pulmonary TB | | | Smear positive | 96 (59.6%) | | Smear negative | 4 (2.5%) | | Extrapulmonary TB | | | Pleural | 15 (9.3%) | | CNS | 13 (8.1%) | | Disseminated | 16 (9.9%) | | Bone and joint | 6 (3.7%) | | Lymph nodes | 4 (2.5%) | | Peritoneal cavity | 3 (1.9%) | | Other sites | 4 (2.5%) | | Nationality | | | Iranian | 151 (94.9%) | | Afghan | 7 (4.4%) | | Educational level | | | Illiterate | 61 (39.1%) | | Secondary school or lower | 59 (37.8%) | | High school diploma or associate degree | 31 (19.9%) | | Academic | 5 (3.2%) | | Geographical strata | | | Urban | 133 (84.2%) | | Rural | 25 (15.8%) | | History of close contact with TB | 38 (24%) | | Previous history of TB | 16 (10.2%) | | Drug addiction | 33 (20.8%) | | History of recent imprisonment | 11 (6.9%) | | Underlying conditions | | | Diabetes mellitus | 40 (25.3%) | | Hypertension and heart disease | 26 (16.4%) | | Chronic pulmonary disease | 13 (13.2%) | | Taking corticosteroids or other immunosuppressive drugs | 11 (6.9%) | | HIV/AIDS | 9 (5.6%) | | Overall rate of diagnostic errors | 154 (97.5%) | | One type of error | 26 (16.8%) | | Two types of error | 21 (13.6%) | | Three or more types of error | 107 (69.4%) | | Life-threatening complications from admission to discharge | | | TB-associated sepsis or acute respiratory failure | 29 (18.5%) | | Massive hemoptysis | 13 (8.3%) | | Major thromboembolic events | 11 (7.6%) | | Pneumothorax/pyopneumothorax | 2 (1.2%) | | Progressive pneumothorax requiring surgical shunting | 2 (1.2%) | | Others | 13 (7.6%) |
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