Missed opportunity for tuberculosis screening among patients presenting at two health facilities in Manafwa district,...

Missed opportunities for Tuberculosis (TB) screening are key drivers of continued tuberculosis transmission. To determine the proportion of and factors associated with missing TB screening amongst patients who attended Bubulo and Butiru health facilities in the Manafwa district to inform future TB prevention and control efforts in Uganda. This was a facility-based, cross-sectional study with quantitative methods of data collection. 125 patients (≥18 years) with at least one symptom suggestive of TB were systematically selected and interviewed at the exit. Data analysis was done by Stata version 15, using a cluster-based logistic regression model. Of the 125 patients enrolled at both sites, 39% (n=49) were aged between 30 and 49 years; 75.2% (n=94) were females; 44% (n=55) were married while 66.4% (n=83) had a primary level of education. Of the patients enrolled in the study, 68% (n=85) had a missed opportunity for TB screening. Having a; post-primary education level (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR]=5.9; 95% Confidence Interval [95% CI]=1.3, 27.1) and attending Bubulo HCIV (AOR=0.01; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.2) were significantly associated with having a missed opportunity for TB screening. Our findings show that slightly more than two-thirds of the patients who presented to the study health facilities with symptoms suggestive of TB missed the opportunity to be screened for TB. Study findings suggest a need for interventions to increase TB screening, particularly among better-educated TB patients.