Impact of Truenat on TB diagnosis in Nigeria

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of Truenat assays on the diagnosis of TB at peripheral facilities in Nigeria. METHODS: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study across 34 out of 38 Truenat-implementing facilities in Nigeria. These facilities offer DOTS services. Information on turnaround time (TAT) for TB diagnosis and time to commencement of treatment was obtained. Also, trends in TB case notifications at the facilities 9 months prior to and 9 months during Truenat implementation were compared. RESULTS: Of 2,335 entries, 70.1% (1,636) were used to determine TAT, while 45.8% (n = 1,070) were used for time to treatment initiation. The median time to diagnosis was <24 hours (IQR 0–1 days). The majority (57.9%) were diagnosed in <24 hours. The median time to treatment initiation was 1.5 days (IQR 0–3). In 9 months before the introduction of Truenat, 8% of 20,424 presumptives evaluated were positive for TB, while during the implementation, 9% of 37,087 presumptives were positive for TB. CONCLUSION: Truenat deployment led to an increase in TB and DR-TB case detection in peripheral facilities in Nigeria. It also decreased TAT and time to TB treatment initiation. These have positive implications in the fight against TB, and Truenat is relevant in finding missing TB cases in Nigeria.

Keywords

• truenat
• diagnosis
• africa
• tuberculosis