Study of Active Screening to Detect Un-Registered Open Cases of Tuberculosis in Rural Areas of Capital District of Rajasthan, India

Tuberculosis is one among top 10 causes of deaths worldwide. Access to effective diagnosis by every TB patient is one among five missions of Global Plan. Active case finding among vulnerable groups has been the key focus area of National Strategic Plan to control TB in India 2017-25. This cross-sectional study was carried out to find out the additional open cases of TB through active screening of general & rural population in selected villages of Jaipur, the capital district in Rajasthan state of India. An active screening team of trained staff visited each house-hold in selected study villages for interviewing the head of house-hold or other adult member available at the time of visit. Family members of age ≥ 15 years were screened for complain of chronic cough of duration 2 weeks or more with study questionnaire. Presumptive cases found at screening were referred for seeking medical consultations from nearest designated microscopy centre. The referred patients were followed up on telephone up to five times for results of medical consultancies. Laboratory technicians of catchment DMCs were also followed up for verification of results. Total 19,306 individuals were covered. Study included 52.8% male, 69.3% ≥ 15 years age, and 99.3% Hindu participants. There were total 153 presumptive TB patients. Out of these, total 10 cases were confirmed as TB. The yield of detection was 0.51 cases/1000 population screened. Study finds active screening as a feasible and effective strategy in detecting additional cases of TB from general and rural population.