N T Agathis1, R Bhavaraju2, V Shah1, L Chen3, C A Haley4, N D Goswami5, A Patrawalla2. 1. Department of Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA. 2. Global Tuberculosis Institute at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA. 3. Curry International Tuberculosis Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA. 4. Southeastern National Tuberculosis Center, Gainesville, FL, USA. 5. Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Identifying and treating individuals with latent TB infection (LTBI) represents a critical and challenging component of national TB elimination. Medical consultations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded TB Centers of Excellence (COEs) are an important resource for healthcare professionals (HCPs) caring for individuals with LTBI. This study aimed to identify the most common clinical concerns regarding LTBI care and to describe epidemiologic and clinical features of patients discussed in these consultations. METHODS: This mixed-methods study randomly sampled 125 consultation inquiries related to LTBI from the COEs' medical consultation database in 2018. Text from consultation records were reviewed and coded to identify reasons for the inquiries and common epidemiologic and clinical patient characteristics. RESULTS: The most common topics of inquiry for consultation included accurate LTBI diagnosis (36%), management of LTBI treatment-related issues (22%), and choice of appropriate LTBI treatment regimen (17%). Patients for whom consultations were requested commonly had another medical condition (34%), were non-U.S. born (31%), were children (25%), and had a history of travel to TB-endemic areas (18%). CONCLUSION: Our findings emphasize the challenge of managing patients with either suspected or confirmed LTBI, highlighting the need for ongoing medical consultation support for nuanced clinical and epidemiologic scenarios.
BACKGROUND: Identifying and treating individuals with latent TB infection (LTBI) represents a critical and challenging component of national TB elimination. Medical consultations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded TB Centers of Excellence (COEs) are an important resource for healthcare professionals (HCPs) caring for individuals with LTBI. This study aimed to identify the most common clinical concerns regarding LTBI care and to describe epidemiologic and clinical features of patients discussed in these consultations. METHODS: This mixed-methods study randomly sampled 125 consultation inquiries related to LTBI from the COEs' medical consultation database in 2018. Text from consultation records were reviewed and coded to identify reasons for the inquiries and common epidemiologic and clinical patient characteristics. RESULTS: The most common topics of inquiry for consultation included accurate LTBI diagnosis (36%), management of LTBI treatment-related issues (22%), and choice of appropriate LTBI treatment regimen (17%). Patients for whom consultations were requested commonly had another medical condition (34%), were non-U.S. born (31%), were children (25%), and had a history of travel to TB-endemic areas (18%). CONCLUSION: Our findings emphasize the challenge of managing patients with either suspected or confirmed LTBI, highlighting the need for ongoing medical consultation support for nuanced clinical and epidemiologic scenarios.
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