Diagnostic and treatment delay among pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Ethiopia: a cross sectional study

BACKGROUND: Delayed diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis (TB) results in severe disease and a higher mortality. It also leads to an increased period of infectivity in the community. The objective of this study was to determine the length of delays, and analyze the factors affecting the delay from onset of symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) until the commencement of treatment. METHODS: In randomly selected TB management units (TBMUs), i.e. government health institutions which have diagnosing and treatment facilities for TB in Amhara Region, we conducted a cross sectional study from September 1-December 31/2003. Delay was analyzed from two perspectives, 1. Period between onset of TB symptoms to first visit to any health provider (health seeking period), and from the first health provider visit to initiation of treatment (health providers' delay), and 2. Period between onset of TB symptoms to first visit to a medical provider (patients' delay), and from this visit to commencement of anti-TB treatment (health systems' delay). Patients were interviewed on the same date of diagnosis using a semi-structured questionnaire. Logistics regression analysis was applied to analyze the risk factors of delays. RESULTS: A total of 384 new smear positive PTB patients participated in the study. The median total delay was 80 days. The median health-seeking period and health providers' delays were 15 and 61 days, respectively. Conversely, the median patients' and health systems' delays were 30 and 21 days, respectively. Taking medical providers as a reference point, we found that forty eight percent of the subjects delayed for more than one month. Patients' delays were strongly associated with first visit to non-formal health providers and self treatment (P < 0.0001). Prior attendance to a health post/clinic was associated with increased health systems' delay (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Delay in the diagnosis and treatment of PTB is unacceptably high in Amhara region. Health providers' and health systems' delays represent the major portion of the total delay. Accessing a simple and rapid diagnostic test for TB at the lowest level of health care facility and encouraging a dialogue among all health providers are imperative interventions.