Table 1 Clinical and demographic characteristics of study participants.

From: Africa-wide evaluation of host biomarkers in QuantiFERON supernatants for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis

Study site

SUN

AHRI

KPS

MRCG

UCRC

EHNRI

UNAM

Total

Participants (n)

75

76

76

72

67

73

75

514

Age, mean ± SD

38.6 ± 10.7

30.9 ± 12.6

38.6 ± 14.7

35.1 ± 13.4

32.5 ± 10.6

37.5 ± 14.1

36.2 ± 9.5

35.7 ± 12.6

Males, n(%)

35(47)

40(53)

39(51)

55(76)

42(63)

33(45)

39(52)

283(55)

HIV pos, n(%)

11(15)

11(14)

37(49)

0(0)

1(1)

18(25)

44(59)

122(24)

QFT pos, n(%)

48(66)

46(61)

25(33)

38(53)

54(81)

36(49)

40(53)

287(56)

*Definite, n(%)

20(27)

30(39)

6(8)

34(47)

24(36)

18(25)

28(37)

160(31)

$Probable, n(%)

0(0)

2(3)

5(7)

0(0)

2(3)

1(1)

9(12)

19(4)

£ORD, n (%)

46(61)

44 (58)

55(72)

35(49)

38(57)

39(53)

17(23)

274(53.3)

Questionable, n(%)

9(12)

0(0)

10(13)

3(4)

3(4)

15(21)

21(28)

61(11.9)

TB cases♯ (n)

20

32

11

34

26

19

37

179(34.2)

Age, mean ± SD

38.2 ± 9.2

28.7 ± 13.6

34.5 ± 13.2

31.5 ± 11.7

33.1 ± 9.5

27.9 ± 9.7

34.6 ± 9.5

35.7 ± 12.6

Males, n(%)

8(40)

16(50)

5(45)

30(88)

16(62)

11(58)

20(54)

106(59)

HIV pos, n(%)

4(20)

7(22)

4(36)

0(0)

1(4)

5(26)

23(62)

44(25)

QFT pos, n(%)

14(74)

26(81)

7(64)

26(76)

25(96)

12(63)

23(62)

133(75)

QFT neg, n(%)

4(21)

6(19)

4(36)

8(24)

1(4)

6(32)

11(30)

40(22)

QFT Indet., n(%)

1(5)

0(0)

0(0)

0(0)

0(0)

1(5)

3(8)

5(3)

ORD

45

44

55

35

38

39

17

274(53.3)

Age, mean ± SD

38.2 ± 11.2

32.4 ± 11.7

39.4 ± 15.5

39.3 ± 14.3

31.7 ± 11.0

38.6 ± 13.5

37.5 ± 10.6

36.8 ± 13.2

Males, n(%)

21(47)

24(55)

30(55)

22(63)

24(63)

14(36)

6(35)

141(51)

HIV pos, n(%)

6(13)

4(9)

26(47)

0(0)

0(0)

6(15)

9(53)

51(19)

QFT pos, n(%)

28(62)

20(45)

16(29)

11(31)

26(68)

20(51)

10(59)

131(48)

QFT neg, n(%)

17(3)

22(50)

33(60)

24(69)

11(29)

19(49)

7(41)

133(49)

QFT Indet., n(%)

0(0)

2(5)

6(11)

0(0)

1(3)

0(0)

0(0)

9(3)

  1. *As previously described in21, participants were classified as Definite TB patients if MTB was isolated from their sputum samples by culture and/or when they had two positive smears and their symptoms responded well to treatment and/or if they had a single positive smear (only one smear done) and their chest X-rays were suggestive of pulmonary TB. $Participants were classified as probable TB if they had one positive sputum smear (in the absence of a culture result) and their symptoms responded well to TB treatment, or when they had very suggestive chest X-rays and their symptoms responded to TB treatment. £Participants were classified as ORD if they had negative cultures, negative smears, and negative chest X-rays and treatment was never initiated by healthcare providers. QuantiFERON results (positive, negative or indeterminate) were obtained using the software provided by the manufacturer. Abbreviations: SUN = Stellenbosch University, South Africa; AHRI = Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Ethiopia; KPS = Karonga Prevention Study, Malawi, MRC = Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia, UCRC = Makerere University, Uganda; EHNRI = Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Ethiopia; UNAM = University of Namibia, Namibia; SD = standard deviation; QFT = QuantiFERON TB Gold In Tube; pos = positive; neg = negative; indet = indeterminate. ♯TB cases = Definite TB + probable TB cases.
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