Demographic, Clinical Characteristics and Diagnostic Outcome of Presumptive Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients Attending Health Care Facilities in Soroti District

Background: Tuberculosis is a public health problem in Uganda. In Soroti district, there were unanswered healthcare system questions about Pulmonary Tuberculosis testing. Therefore, we conducted a crosssectional study across six health facilities to achieve the following objectives; Describe demographic and clinical characteristics of presumptive Pulmonary Tuberculosis patients attending the health care facilities, Describe sputum texture trends across the health care facilities, and Evaluate diagnostic performance characteristics of Ziehl Neelsen smear microscopy using Gene X-pert as the gold standard. Methods: From April to June 2023, we employed purposive and simple random techniques to recruit 150 participants aged ≥12 years across the healthcare facilities. Standardized questionnaires were used to collect respondents' demographic and clinical data. A standard operating procedure for sample collection was employed to collect sputum specimens, subsequently tested for Mycobacterium tuberculosis using Gene X-pert and Ziehl Neelsen smear microscopy. Data was analyzed using both descriptive and analytical statistics. Results: The study reported more female participants (73.3%) than males (26.6%). The predominant age group was 12-21 years. Patients presented with fever, noticeable weight loss, night sweats, and cough in the hierarchical order. Most patients produced muco-salivary sputum specimens, but the purulent sputum samples tested positive for Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. Ziehl Neelsen smear microscopy showed an average performance in detecting Pulmonary Tuberculosis. Conclusion: Female health-seeking behavior, teens’ locality and purulent sputum texture are more likely to influence Pulmonary Tuberculosis testing services in the health care system in Soroti district. Community sensitization and quality testing are important Pulmonary Tuberculosis control strategies.