Diagnosis delay of tuberculosis in the Huambo province, Angola

Introduction: Early diagnosis is necessary for the success of the tuberculosis (TB) program.

Goal: To identify factors associated with diagnosis delay of TB in Huambo, Angola.

Material and methods: Cross-sectional study carried out in patients diagnosed with TB at the Huambo Anti-Tuberculosis Dispensary (ATD) in the period between October 2015 and January 2016.

Results: The 247 patients included in the analysis had a median age of 27 years and a median diagnosis delay of 64 days. In the univariate analysis, age, consumption of alcoholic beverages, living in a residence further than 10km from a healthcare unit, and looking for any other health unit than the emergency unit were associated with longer diagnosis delay. In the multivariate analysis model, to be between 30 and 44 years of age (p=0.018), to live in a residence more than 10km from a healthcare unit (p=0.006) and to turn to traditional medicine as the first healthcare option (p<0.001) were factors that led to greater time delay before diagnosis.

Conclusions: In the Huambo province, age, distance to healthcare facility and the first healthcare service consulted were associated with diagnosis delay of TB.