NEW YORK (MedscapeWire) May 24
Periodic chest x-rays (CXRs) are not cost-effective in screening asymptomatic, otherwise low-risk patients who are tuberculin positive, according to research presented on May 19 at the American Thoracic Society 98th international conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
“There is a considerable lack of uniformity in state and local policy regarding the need for annual CXR evaluation in individuals who have an untreated positive tuberculin skin test (TST),” write J. Aristizabal, MD, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues.
Annual CXRs are costly and in this time of cost cutting, the value of annual testing needs to be re-evaluated.” In this retrospective medical record review, 286 patients met entry criteria of a positive TST, no chemoprophylaxis, and at least 3 periodic CXRs at the Jefferson
County Health Department from June 1991 through June 2001.
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