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Number of Contacts Diagnosed with Active TB Disease

References in the content below refer to the PBMEF Guide.

Definitions

Number of contacts diagnosed with TB disease (both bacteriologically and clinically confirmed) among all contacts who were screened for TB disease during the reporting period.

Numerator

Number of contacts who were diagnosed with TB disease (both bacteriologically and clinically confirmed)

Denominator

N/A
Ref #
DT_CON_DX
(Previously CI-4)
Tier Level
National Level Indicators
Category
Reach
Type
Outcome
Unit of Measure
Number of contacts
Data Type
Integer
Disaggregations
Age (0–4, 5–14, 15+)
Sex
Reporting Level
National Level indicators should be reported at the national level; data may also be reported subnationally or at the project level if national data is not available.
Reporting Frequency
This indicator should be reported on an annual basis at a minimum. More frequent monitoring on a quarterly, monthly, or weekly basis is recommended.

TB register, contact investigation (CI) register, laboratory register, and electronic patient management information systems available at the health facility and district level. This standard World Health Organization (WHO) indicator can also be calculated using the WHO Global TB Programme database variable: newinc_con_tb.

CI is important both for active case finding and TB preventive treatment (TPT). CI identifies people recently exposed to TB with a high risk of developing TB disease or TB infection (TBI) and can help early detection and treatment and reduce the spread of TB in a community.

This indicator provides the yield of TB detection from all contacts evaluated for TB disease, which is an important indicator to monitor over time as different case finding approaches are used in context. Research suggests that up to 5% of all contacts of people with bacteriologically confirmed TB may be found to have TB disease, so this threshold could be used to identify major outliers and potential gaps in CI activities.

The number of contacts detected with active TB disease can be divided by the total number of contacts to provide the TB detection yield from CI activities. When analyzed over time, it can provide insights on gaps in CI; for example, a sudden decrease or increase should be explored to identify any changes in CI that should be considered. It can be analyzed as a trend over time or to understand contact-tracing performance across subnational levels.

Example charts/graphs: 

  • CI cascade
  • Trends over time comparisons
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Changelog

February, 2024: Updated the name, definition, and other information based on the Interim PBMEF Tuberculosis Indicator Compendium.