TITLE:
Quality of Sputum Specimen Samples Submitted for Culture and Drug Susceptibility Testing at the National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory-Uganda, July-October 2013
AUTHORS:
Lilian Bulage, Joseph Imoko, Bruce J. Kirenga, Terry Lo, Henry Byabajungu, Keneth Musisi, Moses Joloba, Emily Bloss
KEYWORDS:
Tuberculosis, Sputum Specimen Quality, Uganda
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Tuberculosis Research,
Vol.3 No.3,
September
16,
2015
ABSTRACT: Setting: The Uganda National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory (NTRL) in Kampala. Objective: The proportion of poor quality specimens received for drug susceptibility testing (DST) at the NTRL and factors contributing to poor specimen quality were assessed. Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted of sputum samples received at the NTRL from patients at high risk for multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) during July-October 2013. Demographic, clinical, and bacte-riological data were abstracted from laboratory records. A poor quality sample failed to meet any one of four criteria: ≥3 milliliter (ml) volume, delivered within 72 hours, triple packaged, and non-salivary appearance. Results: Overall, 365 (64%) of 556 samples were of poor quality; 89 (16%) were not triple packaged, 44 (8%) were