Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 27, 2026
The MODS method for diagnosis of tuberculosis and multidrug resistant tuberculosis
Published on: August 11, 2008
Controlling tuberculosis in an urban emergency department: a rapid decision instrument for patient isolation
Objectives:
This study examined whether data routinely available in emergency departments could be used to improve isolation decisions for tuberculosis patients.
Methods:
In a large emergency department in New York City, we compared the exposure histories of tuberculosis culture-positive and culture-negative patients and used these data to develop a rapid decision instrument to predict culture-positive tuberculosis. The screen used only data that are routinely available to emergency physicians.
Results:
The method had high sensitivity (.96) and moderate specificity (.54).
Conclusions:
The method is easily adaptable for a broad range of settings and illustrates the potential benefits of applying basic epidemiologic methods in a clinical setting.
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