[Tuberculosis Annual Report 2009--Series 6. Condition of TB (1)]

The condition of tuberculosis (TB) at the time at which an individual is diagnosed with TB influences the patient's prognosis. This paper focuses on the condition of TB at the time of the diagnosis based on bacteriological status and X-ray findings. The proportion of bacteriologically confirmed cases among newly notified pulmonary TB patients increased greatly from 25.7% in 1979 to 82.7% in 2009. During this period, the proportion of far-advanced cavitary cases among pulmonary TB patients was around 2% and remained stable. This may mean that the diagnosis had come to be performed bacteriologically rather than radiologically. The proportion of bacteriologically confirmed cases among newly notified pulmonary TB patients in 2009 was studied by sex and 5-year age group. The proportion of bacteriologically confirmed cases increased with age in both male and female TB patients. In male TB patients, the proportion of cavitary cases increased in patients aged up to the end of the 50s and then decreased with age. This tendency was not observed in females. Although the proportion of cavitary cases among elderly TB patients was lower than among youths, the proportion having extensive lesions was greater than that among youths. The proportion of sputum-smear-positive cases with cavities among pulmonary TB patients aged 30-59 years was 32.9 % in male TB patients and 17.1% in female TB patients. According to occupation, this proportion was highest in "temporary workers" (52.6%) for male TB cases and "jobless/ others" (24.9%) for female TB cases, and lowest among "medical workers" in both sexes: 8.3% of male TB cases and 7.4% of female TB cases.