Comparison of QuantiFERON-TB gold in tube test versus tuberculin skin test for screening of latent tuberculosis infection in Saudi Arabia: A population-based study

Objectives: To compare QuantiFERON-TB gold in tube (QFT-GIT) test with tuberculin skin test (TST) in detecting latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among a general population in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted between July 2010 and March 2013 among indiv...

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Main Authors: Hanan H Balkhy, Kamel El Beltagy, Aiman El-Saed, Badr Aljasir, Abdulhakeem Althaqafi, Adel F Alothman, Mohammad Alshalaan, Hamdan Al-Jahdali
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2016-01-01
Series:Annals of Thoracic Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.thoracicmedicine.org/article.asp?issn=1817-1737;year=2016;volume=11;issue=3;spage=197;epage=201;aulast=Balkhy
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spelling doaj-a6e90abb699c4460ad3c2087d43016342020-11-24T20:47:21ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsAnnals of Thoracic Medicine1817-17371998-35572016-01-0111319720110.4103/1817-1737.185759Comparison of QuantiFERON-TB gold in tube test versus tuberculin skin test for screening of latent tuberculosis infection in Saudi Arabia: A population-based studyHanan H BalkhyKamel El BeltagyAiman El-SaedBadr AljasirAbdulhakeem AlthaqafiAdel F AlothmanMohammad AlshalaanHamdan Al-JahdaliObjectives: To compare QuantiFERON-TB gold in tube (QFT-GIT) test with tuberculin skin test (TST) in detecting latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among a general population in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted between July 2010 and March 2013 among individuals randomly selected from the list of those receiving care at primary healthcare centers in three provinces of Saudi Arabia; Central, Western, and Eastern provinces. Those younger than 5 years, immunocompromised, had a current or previous history of active TB, LTBI, or who were receiving anti-TB medications were excluded. Informed consent was obtained before the study questionnaire was completed. Participants were then evaluated for LTBI using QFT-GIT test followed immediately by TST. Results: Of the 1369 subjects included in the final analysis, QFT-GIT was positive in 124 (9.1%) and TST was positive in 127 (9.3%). Positive concordance was observed in 49 (3.6%) subjects while negative concordance was observed in 1167 (85.2%) subjects. The overall agreement between the two tests was 88.8% with a significant kappa (κ) test (κ = 0.332,P< 0.001). Concordance was significantly higher in younger age, female gender, single status, students, primary education, living in middle-sized families, and never smoked. Conclusions: The overall agreement of TST and QFT-GIT for the detection of LTBI among a Saudi general population was 88.8%. QFT-GIT is probably comparable to TST for detecting LTBI in an intermediate TB burden country with high at birth bacille calmette guerin vaccination coverage. Further prospective studies are needed to compare the ability of both tests to predict TB disease.http://www.thoracicmedicine.org/article.asp?issn=1817-1737;year=2016;volume=11;issue=3;spage=197;epage=201;aulast=BalkhyLatent mycobacterium tuberculosis infectionQuantiFERON-TB gold in tube testSaudi Arabiatuberculin skin test
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Hanan H Balkhy
Kamel El Beltagy
Aiman El-Saed
Badr Aljasir
Abdulhakeem Althaqafi
Adel F Alothman
Mohammad Alshalaan
Hamdan Al-Jahdali
spellingShingle Hanan H Balkhy
Kamel El Beltagy
Aiman El-Saed
Badr Aljasir
Abdulhakeem Althaqafi
Adel F Alothman
Mohammad Alshalaan
Hamdan Al-Jahdali
Comparison of QuantiFERON-TB gold in tube test versus tuberculin skin test for screening of latent tuberculosis infection in Saudi Arabia: A population-based study
Annals of Thoracic Medicine
Latent mycobacterium tuberculosis infection
QuantiFERON-TB gold in tube test
Saudi Arabia
tuberculin skin test
author_facet Hanan H Balkhy
Kamel El Beltagy
Aiman El-Saed
Badr Aljasir
Abdulhakeem Althaqafi
Adel F Alothman
Mohammad Alshalaan
Hamdan Al-Jahdali
author_sort Hanan H Balkhy
title Comparison of QuantiFERON-TB gold in tube test versus tuberculin skin test for screening of latent tuberculosis infection in Saudi Arabia: A population-based study
title_short Comparison of QuantiFERON-TB gold in tube test versus tuberculin skin test for screening of latent tuberculosis infection in Saudi Arabia: A population-based study
title_full Comparison of QuantiFERON-TB gold in tube test versus tuberculin skin test for screening of latent tuberculosis infection in Saudi Arabia: A population-based study
title_fullStr Comparison of QuantiFERON-TB gold in tube test versus tuberculin skin test for screening of latent tuberculosis infection in Saudi Arabia: A population-based study
title_full_unstemmed Comparison of QuantiFERON-TB gold in tube test versus tuberculin skin test for screening of latent tuberculosis infection in Saudi Arabia: A population-based study
title_sort comparison of quantiferon-tb gold in tube test versus tuberculin skin test for screening of latent tuberculosis infection in saudi arabia: a population-based study
publisher Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
series Annals of Thoracic Medicine
issn 1817-1737
1998-3557
publishDate 2016-01-01
description Objectives: To compare QuantiFERON-TB gold in tube (QFT-GIT) test with tuberculin skin test (TST) in detecting latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among a general population in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted between July 2010 and March 2013 among individuals randomly selected from the list of those receiving care at primary healthcare centers in three provinces of Saudi Arabia; Central, Western, and Eastern provinces. Those younger than 5 years, immunocompromised, had a current or previous history of active TB, LTBI, or who were receiving anti-TB medications were excluded. Informed consent was obtained before the study questionnaire was completed. Participants were then evaluated for LTBI using QFT-GIT test followed immediately by TST. Results: Of the 1369 subjects included in the final analysis, QFT-GIT was positive in 124 (9.1%) and TST was positive in 127 (9.3%). Positive concordance was observed in 49 (3.6%) subjects while negative concordance was observed in 1167 (85.2%) subjects. The overall agreement between the two tests was 88.8% with a significant kappa (κ) test (κ = 0.332,P< 0.001). Concordance was significantly higher in younger age, female gender, single status, students, primary education, living in middle-sized families, and never smoked. Conclusions: The overall agreement of TST and QFT-GIT for the detection of LTBI among a Saudi general population was 88.8%. QFT-GIT is probably comparable to TST for detecting LTBI in an intermediate TB burden country with high at birth bacille calmette guerin vaccination coverage. Further prospective studies are needed to compare the ability of both tests to predict TB disease.
topic Latent mycobacterium tuberculosis infection
QuantiFERON-TB gold in tube test
Saudi Arabia
tuberculin skin test
url http://www.thoracicmedicine.org/article.asp?issn=1817-1737;year=2016;volume=11;issue=3;spage=197;epage=201;aulast=Balkhy
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