Evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of Gene Xpert MTB/RIF in Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Kohat Division

Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is considered to be one of the most prominentreasons for death globally caused by a single microorganism. However withthe advancement in the field of human health, researchers have mostlyfocused on the strategies to eradicate the TB but it has not been achieved yetbecause of the major gaps in terms of resource-constrained settings and iscase of huge burden of the disease. This study was conducted with theobjective to find out the importance and diagnostic accuracy of Gene XpertMTB/RIF in Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Kohat Division.Methodology: This is an observational study conducted to evaluate suspectedMDR-TB patients from Kohat Division. All suspected cases were referred toXpert Lab and then their sputum were sent to Provincial ReferencingLaboratory (PRL lab) Hayatabad Peshawar for Culture and Drug SusceptibleTB testing. Data analysis was done in SPSS 21 and MS Excel 2013 version.Results: A total of 925 patients were included in the study consecutively. In thetotal patient population, 709 (76.6%) were having a mean age from 15-44 years. Out of 925 patients, 408 (44.1%) were males and 517 (55.1%) were females. The overall sensitivity of Xpert MTB/RIF in detecting culture-positive pulmonary TB was 56.8% (519/925) and culture Negative Pulmonary TB was 43.8% (406/925).Conclusion: The large-scale demonstration provides a robust data on thepotential for increased case finding of TB and DR-TB through routine use of ahigh sensitivity molecular diagnostic test for TB and DR-TB (Xpert MTB/RIF) inpublic sector medical services. Our observations may be useful in guiding thedecisions on the scale-up of Xpert MTB/RIF in high-burden settings.