Latent tuberculosis infection screening in foreign-born populations: A successful mobile clinic outreach model

J.P. Morano, A. Zelenev, M.R. Walton, R.D. Bruce and F.L. Altice

American Journal of Public Health, 2014, vol. 104, issue 8, 1508-1515

Abstract: Objectives. We evaluated the efficacy of a mobile medical clinic (MMC) screening program for detecting latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and active tuberculosis. Methods. A LTBI screening program in a MMC in New Haven, Connecticut, used medical surveys to examine risk factors and tuberculin skin test (TST) screening eligibility. We assessed clinically relevant correlates of total (prevalent; n = 4650) and newly diagnosed (incident; n = 4159) LTBI from 2003 to 2011. Results. Among 8322 individuals, 4159 (55.6%) met TST screening eligibility criteria, of which 1325 (31.9%) had TST assessed. Similar to LTBI prevalence (16.8%; 779 of 4650), newly diagnosed LTBI (25.6%; 339 of 1325) was independently correlated with being foreign-born (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 8.49; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 5.54, 13.02), Hispanic (AOR = 3.12; 95% CI = 1.88, 5.20), Black (AOR = 2.16; 95% CI = 1.31, 3.55), employed (AOR = 1.61; 95% CI = 1.14, 2.28), and of increased age (AOR = 1.04; 95% CI = 1.02, 1.05). Unstable housing (AOR = 4.95; 95% CI = 3.43, 7.14) and marijuana use (AOR = 1.57; 95% CI = 1.05, 2.37) were significantly correlated with incident LTBI, and being male, heroin use, interpersonal violence, employment, not having health insurance, and not completing high school were significantly correlated with prevalent LTBI. Conclusions. Screening for TST in MMCs successfully identifies high-risk foreign-born, Hispanic, working, and uninsured populations and innovatively identifies LTBI in urban settings.

Keywords: addiction; adult; ancestry group; article; female; human; latent tuberculosis; male; mass screening; methodology; migrant; organization and management; prevalence; preventive health service; risk factor; statistics; tuberculin test; United States, Adult; Connecticut; Continental Population Groups; Emigrants and Immigrants; Female; Humans; Latent Tuberculosis; Male; Mass Screening; Mobile Health Units; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Substance-Related Disorders; Tuberculin Test (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2014.301897

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2014.301897_0

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.301897

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().