Centre for Social Science Research

Tuberculosis is one of the most common causes of death in the era of HIV/AIDS. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), South Africa houses third largest global burdens of tuberculosis (TB) after India and China, and 28% of the world’s cases involve HIV-TB co-infection. Recent studies in South Africa indicate that <10% of patients attending clinics for TB-related symptoms were screened for TB and TB screening among people living with HIV is around 80%. Among those tested for TB, the availability of results in patient files is limited. Thus, accurate estimates for rates of TB infection remain unknown, particularly for high-risk populations. Recently, provider-initiated TB case-finding has become an integral part of HIV care in resource-poor settings. However, studies comparing symptom-based screening with sputum tests suggest that current symptom screening has poor sensitivity. This presentation will illustrate the use of latent class analysis to empirically identify distinct patterns of self-reported pulmonary TB symptoms from the second wave of Mzantsi Wakho study – the world’s largest cohort of adolescents living with HIV. In turn, given low rates of TB screening and accurate testing in the South Africa this will help to estimate rates of pulmonary TB infection among this high-risk population as well as explore a simple symptom screening checklist that may be crucial for more effective case finding and follow-up treatment in high-burden, low-resource contexts like South Africa.