Association between potential predictor variables and bacteriologically confirmed tuberculosis (TB) among 247 symptomatic hospitalised patients with negative Xpert MTB/RIF result
| Characteristics | Bacteriologically confirmed for TB | OR (95% CI) | p-value | Model 1 | Model 2 | Model 3 | |
| aOR (95% CI) | aOR (95% CI) | aOR (95% CI) | |||||
| Yes | No | ||||||
| Patients n | 39 | 208 | |||||
| Age | |||||||
| ≥41 years | 7 (17.9) | 99 (47.6) | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | |
| 18–40 years | 32 (82.1) | 109 (52.4) | 4.2 (1.8–10.6) | 0.001 | 6.5 (2.6–18.0) | 5.5 (2.2–15.2) | 4.9 (2.0–13.7) |
| Sex | |||||||
| Female | 15 (38.5) | 95 (45.7) | Ref. | ||||
| Male | 24 (61.5) | 113 (54.3) | 1.3 (0.7–2.8) | 0.407 | |||
| Cough of ≥2 weeks | |||||||
| No | 5 (12.8) | 80 (38.5) | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | |
| Yes | 34 (87.2) | 128 (61.5) | 4.3 (1.7–12.8) | 0.003 | 3.7 (1.4–12.1) | 3.3 (1.2–11.1) | 2.8 (0.95–9.5) |
| Fever of ≥2 weeks | |||||||
| No | 18 (46.2) | 117 (56.2) | Ref. | ||||
| Yes | 21 (53.8) | 91 (43.8) | 1.5 (0.8–3.0) | 0.281 | |||
| Night sweat of ≥2 weeks | |||||||
| No | 19 (48.7) | 109 (52.4) | Ref. | ||||
| Yes | 20 (51.3) | 99 (47.6) | 1.2 (0.6–2.3) | 0.673 | |||
| Shortness of breath of ≥2 weeks | |||||||
| No | 11 (28.2) | 111 (53.4) | Ref. | Ref. | |||
| Yes | 28 (71.8) | 97 (46.6) | 2.9 (1.4–6.4) | 0.005 | 2.5 (1.1–6.2) | ||
| Loss of appetite | |||||||
| No | 2 (5.1) | 46 (22.1) | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | |
| Yes | 37 (94.9) | 162 (77.9) | 5.3 (1.5–33.1) | 0.025 | 9.2 (2.3–61.9) | 8.5 (2.2–56.8) | 5.8 (1.5–39.3) |
| Weight loss | |||||||
| No | 9 (23.1) | 102 (49.0) | Ref. | ||||
| Yes | 30 (76.9) | 106 (51.0) | 3.2 (1.5–7.5) | 0.003 | |||
| Chest pain | |||||||
| No | 6 (15.4) | 76 (36.5) | Ref. | ||||
| Yes | 33 (84.6) | 132 (63.5) | 3.2 (1.4–8.7) | 0.013 | |||
| History of TB treatment | |||||||
| No | 31 (79.5) | 171 (82.2) | Ref. | ||||
| Yes | 8 (20.5) | 37 (17.8) | 1.2 (0.5–2.7) | 0.686 | |||
| Severely ill# | |||||||
| No | 34 (87.2) | 196 (94.2) | Ref. | ||||
| Yes | 5 (12.8) | 12 (5.8) | 2.4 (0.7–6.9) | 0.12 | |||
| Body mass index | |||||||
| >18.5 kg·m−2 | 14 (35.9) | 149 (71.6) | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | |
| ≤18.5 kg·m−2 | 25 (64.1) | 59 (28.4) | 4.5 (2.2–9.5) | 4.17×10−5 | 5.0 (2.3–11.7) | 4.4 (2.0–10.2) | 3.9 (1.7–9.2) |
| HIV status¶ | |||||||
| Negative | 28 (71.8) | 160 (79.6) | Ref. | ||||
| Positive | 11 (28.2) | 41 (20.4) | 1.5 (0.7–3.3) | 0.247 | |||
| Chest radiography classified by clinicians | |||||||
| Not suggestive of TB | 12 (30.8) | 136 (65.4) | Ref. | Not included | Ref. | ||
| Suggestive of TB | 27 (69.2) | 72 (34.6) | 4.3 (2.1–9.21) | 0.0001 | 2.7 (1.2–6.6) | ||
| Chest radiography classified by radiologist | |||||||
| Not suggestive of TB | 8 (20.5) | 146 (70.2) | Ref. | Not included | Not included | Ref. | |
| Compatible with TB | 8 (20.5) | 12 (5.8) | 12.2 (3.9–39.2) | 1.83×10−6 | 5.1 (1.3–20.0) | ||
| Typical of TB | 23 (59.0) | 50 (24.0) | 8.4 (3.7–21.1) | 1.48×10−5 | 5.3 (2.1–14.4) | ||
Data are presented as n (%), unless otherwise stated. aOR: adjusted odds ratio. #: defined as patients with a fever of >39°C, tachycardia >120 beats·min−1, or tachypnoea >30 breaths·min−1 [5]; ¶: 7 missing HIV test results.