The Modern Profile of Tuberculosis: Developing the TB Social Survey to understand contemporary social patterns in tuberculosis.
Grace A Noppert, Philippa Clarke
PMID 29067712WHAT IT FOUND
During TB treatment in Detroit, 23 patients completed a social survey. 39% reported difficulty paying monthly bills and 26% reported difficulty making food last.
Most said they had been in good health before TB. The survey is preliminary and has no comparison group.
Key findings
01The survey was piloted, and 23 of 26 recruited individuals completed it.
02Among participants, 39% reported difficulty making monthly bill payments and 26% reported difficulty making food last until there was money to buy more.
03For the income question, 35% refused to answer and 17% reported not knowing total household yearly income.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a pilot survey-development study, not a treatment trial, so it cannot show that the survey improves care or outcomes. Only 23 of 26 recruited patients completed the survey, and the results are preliminary from an ongoing study. There was no comparison group without TB, so the social findings cannot show what puts people at risk for TB. Income data were incomplete: 35% refused to report income and 17% did not know total household yearly income. Pre-TB status relied on recall, and the authors say participants may have remembered their life before TB as better than it was. Foreign-born participants may have been under-represented because of fear of government data transmission, and the survey was English-only. The study used three Detroit-area agencies, so it may not represent other TB populations.
Declared interests
No conflicts-of-interest or funding declaration appears in the supplied text. The publication types list NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat the TB Social Survey as a validated tool or read the bill and food insecurity numbers as evidence that social hardship causes TB. The study was a small pilot with 23 completed surveys, no comparison group, and 35% of participants refused to report income.