Do women with tuberculosis have a lower likelihood of getting diagnosed?: Prevalence and case detection of sputum smear positive pulmonary TB, a population-based study from Vietnam

The aim was to estimate the gender-specific prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) through screening. A further aim was to calculate case detection within the Vietnamese National TB program. A population-based survey of 35,832 adults was performed within an existing sociodemographic longitudinal study in Bavi district, northern Vietnam. Cases were identified by a screening question about prolonged cough and further diagnosed with sputum examination and a chest X-ray. The estimated prevalence of pulmonary TB among men was 90/100,000 (95% CI 45–135/100,000) and among women 110/100,000 (95% CI 63–157/100,000). Case detection in the district was estimated to 39% (95% CI 20–76%) among men and 12% (95% CI 6–26%) among women. TB prevalence was similar among men and women. Case detection among men and women was significantly lower than the reported national case detection of 80%, and there was a significant underdetection of female cases. These findings warrant actions, and emphasize the need to perform similar studies in different contexts.