Diagnostic delays in access to tuberculosis care in counties with or without the National Tuberculosis Control Programme in rural China.

SETTING: A county covered by the National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP) (Jianhu) and a nonprogramme county (Funing) in Jiangsu Province, China.

OBJECTIVE: To compare diagnostic delays among tuberculosis (TB) patients between counties with and without the NTP, and to study the impact of demographic, socioeconomic and policy factors on the delays.

DESIGN: A cohort study of 493 newly diagnosed TB patients registered in the study sites during 2002 was conducted using a structured questionnaire interview.

RESULT: The median total diagnostic delay was longer in Jianhu County, 31 (14-68) days, compared to Funing County, 19 (12-34) days, with a shorter patient's delay (10 vs. 16 days, P < 0.05) but a longer doctor's delay (6 vs. 0 days, P < 0.01) in Jianhu than in Funing. Smear-positive TB accounted for 86% of patients in Jianhu, compared to 37% in Funing. Less educated and uninsured patients had longer patient's or doctor's delays in Jianhu, while in Funing poor patients and farmers had both longer patient's and doctor's delays.

CONCLUSION: The subsidised NTP leads to a shorter patient's delay, but a longer doctor's delay, with a substantially higher proportion of smear-positive TB diagnosis. Education, medical insurance, poverty and the system of TB control can influence patients' access to TB care.