Research on diagnosis and treatment delay and its influencing factors among new smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients in five counties of Hunan province

Objective To study the delay of diagnosis and treahnent and its influencing factors among smearpositive pulmonary tuberculosis in Hunan province.Methods New smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients(SP-PTB)in Beihu district,Guiyang county,Yizhang county,Yongxing county and Anren county in Chenzhou city of Hunan province were selected The data were analyzed with SPSS 13.0 and Cox proportional hazards regression modelwas adopted.Results The study investigated 217 persons in all.The median of patients’delay,the delay of diagnosis treatment,the delay of health care facilities,and total delay was 21,29,3,16,62 days,respectively The positive influencing factor on the patients' delay was health education on TB and the negative influencing factorw as without specific symptom.The positive influencing factors on the health care delay were sputum smear,X-ray,CT examinations and hemoptysis and the negative factors was seeking medical assistance at dmg store,village clinic and the initial consulting in tow nship medical organization Positive influencing factors on the diagnosis delay were sputum smear,X-ray,CT examinations The negative influencing factor on the treatn ent delay was living in rural area and the positive factors was sputum smear at the firstm edication seeking Conclusion The delay of diagnosis and treatment of new sm earpositive puleonary tuberculosis patients are retaled to the unow ledge on the disease,the residence,the tin a of seeking medical counseling of the patients and X-ray check-up,sputum-smear examination at the firsttin a of medication seeking