INTRODUCTION Delay in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is common in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Timely diagnosis of active tuberculosis is crucial in minimizing morbidity and mortality in the community as well as nosocomial transmission in health care facilities. This study aimed at determining factors associated with health service delay in the diagnosis and initiation o...

Death during the first year after hip fracture may be influenced by the type of hospital in which patients are treated as well as the time spent awaiting surgery. We studied 57,315 hip fracture patients who were admitted to hospital in Ontario, Canada. Patients treated in teaching hospitals had a decreased risk of in-hospital mortality (odds ratio (OR) 0.89; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.83 to...

BACKGROUND Diagnostic delay in patients with tuberculosis (TB) leads to ongoing TB transmission, higher mortality rates and increased patient and government health expenditure. Qualitative research focussed on patients' self-perceptions of disease and their care-seeking behaviour helps to guide health education programmes by providing us with the understanding of the knowledge, attitudes and pr...

Background Intrinsic hospital factors leading to time delay inter-hospital transfer for endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) have not been adequately investigated, uncertainty in generalizability of hub and spoke EVT services. We investigated the contribution intrinsic variations a multicenter, retrospective study. Methods The setting was state-wide system population 6.3 million 34 hospitals. collec...

BACKGROUND Early diagnosis and treatment of myocardial infarction can prevent life-threatening complications such as dysrhythmias and death. The aim of this study was to determine the length of delay and its related factors in seeking treatment among a group of patients with myocardial infarction. METHODS In a cross-sectional design, all the patients who had referred to a general teaching hos...

Background: PTGD combined with delay LC has been widely applied to elderly patients. Nevertheless, there are only few data available on delay LC after PTGD. We present a case-control study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of delay LC after PTGD 3 months later for acute cholecystitis. Methods: Data of elderly patients underwent LC for cholecystitis were prospectively collected in our hospital...