Evaluation of Active Case Finding (ACF) of Tuberculosis in Slums Population in North of Iran

Background At present of the limitation of the current case finding strategies and the global urgency to improve tuberculosis (TB) case finding, a renewed interest in active case finding (ACF) has risen. World Health Organization (WHO) calls for research on TB screening among low-income countries because of the limitation of the passive case finding strategies. We aimed to evaluated Active Case Finding strategy for TB among the slums population in North of Iran (Gorgan city) and comprise this procedure to Passive Case Finding. Materials and Methods We conducted a house-to-house survey from April 2016 to July 2016 by trained health volunteers for TB in ten urban slums of Gorgan. Individuals with TB symptoms were identified through targeted screening using a standardized questionnaire and investigated further for TB. Descriptive analyses were performed using Stata-12. Results During study period, of 22,741 individuals screened for TB, 112 (0.49%) were identified as TB suspects; 95 suspects were evaluated for TB. TB was diagnosed in four individuals, representing 4.2% of those evaluated for TB as suspected cases. The incidence rate of tuberculosis was 17.5 in 100.000 people in slums population of Gorgan. Of the four detected cases, three individuals had pulmonary TB that among them two cases had new smear-positive TB. Conclusion ACF could supplement current strategies to yield additional TB cases, lead to early diagnosis and better treatment.