Characteristics of tuberculosis patients and the evaluation of compliance to the national TB management guidelines at clinics in a rural community from Mpumalanga province, South Africa

This study serves as baseline investigation into tuberculosis (TB) patient population characteristics and the compliance of clinics in rural settings to the national TB guidelines in terms of diagnosing the disease. A total of 62 TB positive patients’ files were reviewed. Patients were diagnosed using: smear microscopy (41.9%); chest radiography (37.1%); Xpert MTB/RIF (9.7%); symptoms (3.2%); abdomen sonar (1.6%); and, no record (6.5%). Lack of complete compliance was identified, including large dependencies on chest X-ray as the first line of diagnosis and inadequate diagnosis of extra-pulmonary TB. These findings could assist identifying health system gaps for provincial and national control programs.