Evaluation of pulmonary tuberculosis diagnostic tests in children and adolescents at a pediatric reference center

Introduction: This study evaluates the performance of individual and combinations tests used for pediatric tuberculosis diagnosis at a reference center.

Materials and methods: Diagnostic test outcomes from children with presumed pulmonary tuberculosis evaluated from January 2005 - July 2010 were compared to a standard diagnosis made by an expert panel of physicians.

Results: Presence of at least one sign/symptom, history of contact, or abnormal chest X-ray (aCXR) individually showed the highest sensitivity (85.7%). While the combination of history of contact, at least one sign/symptom, positive tuberculin skin test, and aCXR had low sensitivity of 20%, but the specificity and a positive predictive value were 100%, respectively. The combination of tests used in the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease and the Brazilian Ministry of Health systems showed sensitivity of 28.6% and 71.4% and specificity of 95.8% and 97.0%, respectively.

Conclusions: In the absence of a gold standard, the combination of clinical history, tuberculin skin test, and aCXR, as well as the Brazilian scoring system serve as simple, low-cost approach that can be used for pediatric TB diagnosis by first-contact care providers.