Evaluation of tuberculosis public health surveillance, Al-Madinah province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2012

The objective of the study is to evaluate the quality of the data, the sensitivity of the surveillance, and the completeness of identification and investigation of tuberculosis (TB) patient’s contacts. The study covered the TB surveillance program in Al-Madinah province in 2011. First, we reviewed all the notifications, treatment cards, and register books, as well as monthly and quarterly reports, for completeness and accuracy of data. Then, we searched for the missed cases that were not reported. Finally, we reviewed all the patients’ household contacts’ reports to assess the degree of completion of identification and investigation. There were 444 cases detected during the study period; only 200 cases were reported. The sensitivity of the TB surveillance system was 45%. Among the 200 reported cases, the results revealed high completeness rates for demographic and disease data and low completeness rates for the test result fields. The contact identification and investigation showed that 34.4% of smear-positive cases’ contacts were not identified. Only 67% of identified contacts were investigated. The review of hospital records and lab registers showed that 244 cases were not reported. In conclusion, the TB surveillance system has several areas that need improvement.