Prevalence of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis among outpatients presenting with cough of any duration in Shashogo Woreda, Southern Ethiopia

BACKGROUND Excluding patients with cough less than two weeks from screening for TB which is the current practice of TB control program in Ethiopia may result in delayed diagnosis thereby increasing transmission risk to others. The current study aimed to determine the prevalence of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis among patients presenting with cough to four health centers in Shashogo woreda, Southern Ethiopia. METHODS A cross sectional study was conducted in four health centers in Shashogo Woreda, between November 2011 and March 2012. Four-hundred and sixty one patients aged five years and above attending the outpatient clinics and reporting cough of any duration were screened for pulmonary TB using smear microscopy. During data analysis, patients were classified by duration of cough with the cut-off of two weeks. Stata version 11 was used for data analysis. RESULTS A total of 299 patients with cough of two or more weeks and 162 patients with cough less than 2 weeks were recruited. The overall prevalence of smear positive pulmonary TB was 4.6% (95% CI: 2.6% to 7.7%). The prevalence of smear positive pulmonary TB among patients with cough lasting two or more weeks was significantly higher compared to those patients with cough lasting less than two weeks (6.0% versus 1.9%; p = 0.04). CONCLUSION Although the prevalence of smear positive pulmonary TB among patients with cough less than 2 weeks was low, considering the contribution of delayed diagnosis for continued transmission of TB, screening patients with cough less than 2 weeks might be considered for TB control. A multi-site study with large sample size is needed to substantiate the current findings.