Presentation delay and healthcare delay by descriptive characteristics of people with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), South East England, 2011–2015
| Presentation delay | Healthcare delay | |||
| Cases with delay data | Delay days | Cases with delay data | Delay days | |
| All | 813 | 30 (11–72) | 885 | 40 (13–89) |
| Year | ||||
| 2011 | 38 | 51 (10–111) | 44 | 34 (8–99) |
| 2012 | 102 | 30 (12–70) | 118 | 50 (14–99) |
| 2013 | 224 | 28 (9–60) | 232 | 32 (14–72) |
| 2014 | 232 | 29 (12–62) | 257 | 44 (14–94) |
| 2015 | 217 | 31 (12–91) | 234 | 43 (12–98) |
| Unknown | 0 | 0 | ||
| Health protection team | ||||
| Hampshire Isle of Wight | 132 | 33 (15–67) | 132 | 39 (15–83) |
| Kent | 236 | 31 (13–86) | 265 | 37 (9–87) |
| Surrey Sussex | 134 | 45 (17–111) | 153 | 28 (9–70) |
| Thames Valley | 311 | 21 (8–53) | 335 | 52 (18–102) |
| Unknown | 0 | 0 | ||
| Cases by area TB incidence | ||||
| <20/100 000 | 554 | 31 (13–83) | 615 | 43 (14–95) |
| ≥20/100 000 | 259 | 24 (9–61) | 270 | 32 (10–85) |
| Unknown | 0 | 0 | ||
| Rurality | ||||
| Rural | 70 | 39 (13–82) | 78 | 38 (16–96) |
| Urban | 743 | 29 (11–70) | 807 | 41 (12–89) |
| Unknown | 0 | 0 | ||
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 485 | 30 (12–81) | 528 | 35 (10–78) |
| Female | 327 | 30 (11–62) | 356 | 48 (19–111) |
| Unknown | 1 | 1 (1–1) | 1 | 327 (327–327) |
| Age group years | ||||
| 0–14 | 9 | 6 (4–20) | 10 | 45 (33–51) |
| 15–44 | 444 | 29 (12–67) | 489 | 34 (10–79) |
| 45–64 | 200 | 31 (193–80) | 211 | 43 (14–96) |
| ≥65 | 160 | 27 (9–84) | 174 | 50 (17–129) |
| Unknown | 0 | 0 | ||
| Time resident in UK years | ||||
| <2 years | 96 | 33 (15–68) | 105 | 31 (10–62) |
| 2–10 years | 248 | 28 (10–61) | 274 | 34 (10–83) |
| ≥11 years | 167 | 23 (9–61) | 174 | 55 (19–116) |
| UK-born | 283 | 31 (10–92) | 309 | 44 (16–99) |
| Unknown | 19 | 64 (23–121) | 23 | 26 (5–56) |
| Social risk factor | ||||
| None | 704 | 28 (10–66) | 768 | 43 (14–98) |
| 1 | 66 | 50 (26–121) | 74 | 23 (7–71) |
| ≥2 | 43 | 34 (17–88) | 43 | 18 (5–65) |
| Unknown | 0 | 0 | ||
| QIMD | ||||
| 1 (least) | 140 | 31 (10–73) | 158 | 46 (18–96) |
| 2 | 139 | 29 (13–61) | 156 | 47 (16–114) |
| 3 | 191 | 26 (8–67) | 208 | 42 (12–99) |
| 4 | 231 | 31 (13–72) | 247 | 40 (12–85) |
| 5 (most) | 112 | 34 (12–100) | 146 | 20 (7–59) |
| Unknown | 0 | 0 | ||
| Ethnicity | ||||
| Not white | 501 | 27 (10–61) | 541 | 38 (11–83) |
| White | 312 | 35 (13–92) | 342 | 42 (15–100) |
| Unknown | 0 | 0 | ||
| Language barriers# | ||||
| Present | 88 | 32 (15–96) | NC | |
| Absent | 725 | 30 (11–68) | NC | |
| Unknown | 0 | NC | ||
| Mental health comorbidity# | ||||
| Present | 31 | 43 (19–135) | NC | |
| Absent | 782 | 30 (11–68) | NC | |
| Unknown | 0 | NC | ||
| Physical health comorbidity# | ||||
| Present | 75 | 30 (11–76) | 799 | 41 (13–89) |
| Absent | 738 | 31 (12–56) | 86 | 33 (15–95) |
| Unknown | 0 | 0 | ||
| Post mortem diagnosis | ||||
| Yes | 8 | 8 (5–91) | NC | |
| No | 805 | 30 (11–72) | NC | |
| Unknown | 0 | NC | ||
| Previous TB diagnosis | ||||
| Yes | 51 | 31 (10–92) | 57 | 38 (16–70) |
| No | 744 | 30 (11–67) | 810 | 42 (13–94) |
| Unknown | 18 | 48 (7–105) | 14 | 13 (5–19) |
| Sputum smear | ||||
| Positive | 379 | 31 (12–84) | 406 | 25 (8–66) |
| Negative | 300 | 27 (11–65) | 330 | 51 (20–107) |
| Unknown | 134 | 30 (11–64) | 149 | 59 (27–132) |
| Chest radiography | ||||
| Abnormal: TB | NC | 642 | 38 (12–83) | |
| Not TB or NAD | NC | 61 | 56 (19–129) | |
| Unknown | NC | 182 | 43 (15–88) | |
| Culture status | ||||
| Positive | NC | 720 | 38 (12–79) | |
| Negative | NC | 165 | 59 (19–132) | |
| Unknown | NC | 0 | ||
| Referred by | ||||
| Primary care | NC | 340 | 51 (21–102) | |
| Secondary care | NC | 420 | 27 (8–78) | |
| Prison | NC | 4 | 40 (10–67) | |
| Private | NC | 5 | 162 (29–179) | |
| Unknown | NC | 116 | 54 (20–99) | |
Data are presented as n or median (interquartile range). QIMD: Quintile of Index of Multiple Deprivation; NAD: no abnormality detected; NC: not calculated as not considered as a risk factor for this outcome. #: all unknown=“no”: the reporting form used by the TB nurses for cohort review had a simple tick box (tick means “yes”) for these variables. We have assumed if unticked that this meant “no”.