Enhancing the management of cross-regional transfer of floating tuberculosis cases by active follow-up and communication.

OBJECTIVES To analyse the effects of an intervention on cross-regional transfer of tuberculosis (TB) patients among floating population. METHODS On 1 October 2008, the 1-year intervention started by strengthening patients' health education, supervising medical treatments at critical phases, assisting in the transference of TB patients and persisting communication with TB dispensaries outside Shenzhen city. Data were collected from the TB patients' registry book and the TB transference and follow-ups recording book. Primary outcomes were compared at the pre-intervention (From 1 October 2007 to 30 September 2008) and intervention periods. RESULTS A total of 1131 floating tuberculosis cases were registered (594 at the intervention period). Compared with those at the pre-intervention period, the rate of patients' informing doctors before leaving Shenzhen increased significantly (61.8% vs. 39.4%), the rate of successful transference mildly improved (60.0% vs. 50.0%), while the rate decreased dramatically for the re-registered patients at TB dispensaries outside Shenzhen (51.5% vs. 93.6%). CONCLUSION The intervention improves patients' adherence and enhances collaboration between TB dispensaries, establishes more practical mechanisms, which could be useful for TB control in China. However, more efforts should be directed towards improvement of TB control among floating population, especially advocating the economic perspective.