Diagnostic Errors in Tuberculous Patients: A Multicenter Study from a Developing Country
Table 2
Comparison of mean lag time from onset of symptoms to first visit and from onset of symptoms to definitive diagnosis for different groups of patients.
Mean lag time from symptom onset to first medical visit (days)
value
Mean lag time from symptom onset to diagnosis (days)
value
Gender
Male
74.58
<0.001
75.26
0.29
Female
49.19
67.98
Age
15–39 years
64.86
0.83
64.18
0.23
40–64 years
60.28
78.46
Years ≥ 65
63.72
71.57
Geographical strata
Urban
63.45
0.44
71.36
0.80
Rural
56.09
68.95
Educational level
Secondary school or lower
63.02
0.58
72.14
0.38
High school diploma or higher degree
58.97
65.18
Chronic medical illness
Positive
58.37
0.11
74.04
0.57
Negative
68.47
70.20
Close contact with TB patients
Positive
66.19
0.54
72.31
0.89
Negative
61.81
71.23
Drug addiction
Positive
68.11
0.44
78.27
0.32
Negative
62.18
70.19
Site of involvement
Pulmonary
68.68
0.002
72.73
0.36
Extrapulmonary
47.60
66.23
First medical visit
Primary-care physician
62.22
0.90
71.38
0.65
Specialist/Subspecialist
61.34
67.94
Acute or subacute life-threatening complications
Positive
56.39
0.45
65.18
0.58
Negative
61.51
69.19
Clinical outcome
Survived
63.55
0.99
73.50
0.89
Died
63.50
71.85
Statistical analyses are descriptive methods; Lilliefors and Shapiro–Wilk tests to determine the frequency distribution of quantitative variables and Mann–Whitney test to compare two groups; TB: tuberculosis.
