Progress towards eliminating tuberculosis in Ga West Municipality, Ghana: Analysis of tuberculosis surveillance data, 2017

Abstract

Objective: To assess the progress made towards the actualization of the 80% reduction in incident cases, monitor trends and to assess the quality of GWM TB surveillance data from 2012 to 2016. Design: The study was descriptive secondary data analysis Data Source: Tuberculosis cases recorded in the District Health Information Management Systems (DHIMS) and municipal TB registers. The Municipal TB Coordinator was interviewed for clarification on the data. A TB patient was defined as one who coughed persistently for two weeks or more. Main outcome measure: Trend of TB cases in Ga West Municipality Results: A total of 441 TB cases were registered of which 68.9% were smear positive. Males were (67%). Age group 35-44 years were the most affected (28.6%). The incidence rose from 21.5 (2012) to 41.6 (2015). The 2016 incidence was 40.7 (± 5.63) per 100,000 population. This is significantly different from the current national incidence of 156 (p < 0.05). Data was 95% complete. Discrepancies existed between data in registers compared to the DHIMS but were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The 80% reduction in incident cases target may not be attained by the GWM due to the rising number of incident cases. However, data quality is good.