Urogenital Tuberculosis and Delayed Diagnosis: A Qualitative Study

To identify the causes of delayed diagnosis of urogenital tuberculosis (UGT) through a qualitative study of patients with contracted bladder due to UGT.

Eight patients diagnosed with contracted bladder due to UGT were evaluated. Data were obtained using face-to-face in-depth interviews and supplemented with medical records analysis and personal medical files. The identification of situations of diagnosis delay was coded by 2 urologists after data analyses. Codes were divided into 3 categories related to its causes: (1) health system; (2) disease factors; and (3) medical factors.

The 8 interviews produced 220 minutes of audio and 1.3 GB of scanned documents. The most frequent categories were "Medical factors," followed by "Disease factors" and "Health system." The codes "No clinical-laboratory-radiological suspicion" and "No clinical suspicion" were the most frequent, both belonging to "Medical factors." Clinically, tuberculosis simulates other pathologies and lacks specific tests with adequate sensitivity. The low representation of "Health system" codes indicates that access to public and private health services does not influence delayed diagnosis. The lack of clinical and radiological suspicion and the lack of knowledge of UGT features are the main reasons for diagnosis delay.

The causes of delayed diagnosis in our sample were related to "Medical factors," followed by "Disease factors." Better understanding UGT features is an important topic in continuous medical education.