Uncovering Household Tuberculosis Infection Testing and Care Patterns Using a Novel Bioinformatics Linkage Strategy

Households are a focus of tuberculosis (TB) active case finding strategies. However, little is known about patterns of (noninfectious) TB infection clustering in households without a known infectious index case, or how household membership affects progression through the TB infection care cascade.

Using data from a multistate community health center network in the United States, we identified individuals with a positive tuberculin skin test (TST) or interferon gamma release assay (IGRA) between 2014 and 2022. We implemented an algorithm to link these "sentinel patients" with household members in the database. We determined rates and predictors of TST/IGRA testing, test positivity, and treatment prescription among household members.

We identified 35 772 sentinel patients with a positive TST or IGRA, who were linked to 129 432 household members. Of household members, 33 821 (26.1%) had a TST/IGRA within 2 years of the sentinel patient's positive test, of whom 3127 (9.3%) had a positive test and 641 (20.6%) were prescribed TB infection treatment. Whether the sentinel patient was prescribed treatment was associated with household member being tested (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.16 [95% confidence interval {CI}: 1.10-1.21]) and being prescribed treatment (aOR 9.68 [95% CI: 7.71-12.16]).

Most household members had no documented TB infection test before or within 2 years after a sentinel patient in the household had a positive test. Household member and sentinel patient characteristics, conditions, and treatment were associated with household member testing, test positivity, and treatment prescription. Households may be an effective but underutilized context to identify and treat individuals with TB infection, even when no TB disease cases are present.