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Volume 26, Number 9—September 2020
Research Letter

Latent Tuberculosis Screening Using Electronic Health Record Data

Jeffrey D. JenksComments to Author , Richard S. Garfein, Wenhong Zhu, and Michael Hogarth
Author affiliations: University of California, La Jolla, California, USA

Main Article

Table

TB testing and treatment among foreign-born outpatients attending UC San Diego Health Medical Center, San Diego, California, USA, March 31, 2018–March 30, 2019*

Variable TB tested, no. (%)
p value
No, n = 6,797 Yes, n = 1,437
Sex
F 4,390 (64.6) 860 (59.8) 0.000
M
2,407 (35.4)
577 (40.2)

Nationality or regionality
Mexican 5,142 (75.7) 1,074 (74.7) 1.0
Chinese 732 (10.8) 186 (12.9)
Vietnamese 635 (9.3) 91 (6.3)
Filipino 186 (2.7) 44 (3.1)
Guatemalan 43 (0.6) 12 (0.8)
Asian Indian 18 (0.3) 6 (0.4)
African 13 (0.2) 10 (0.7)
Other 17 (0.3) 10 (0.7)
Unknown
11 (0.2)
4 (0.3)

Preferred language
Spanish 5,215 (76.7) 1,094 (76.1) 0.097
Vietnamese 646 (9.5) 90 (6.3)
Mandarin 384 (5.6) 108 (7.5)
Chinese 265 (3.9) 68 (4.7)
Tagalog 184 (2.7) 44 (3.1)
Cantonese 82 (1.2) 15 (1.0)
African† 11 (0.2) 12 (0.8)
Telugu 2 (<1.0) 1 (<1.0)
Haitian Creole
0
5 (0.3)

Country of birth
Unknown 6,745 (99.2) 1,362 (94.8) 1.0
Mexico 49 (0.7) 66 (4.6)
Other
3 (<1.0)
9 (0.6)

TB test
QuantiFERON-TB Gold test‡ NA 1,340 (93.2) NA
TST
NA
97 (6.8)

TB test result
Negative NA 956 (66.5) NA
Positive§ NA 379 (26.4)
Equivocal/low mitogen NA 102 (7.1)

*Foreign-born is a proxy for outpatients at UC San Diego Health Medical Center with a self-reported nationality of Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Guatemalan, Asian Indian, African plus preferred language other than English. NA, not applicable, TB, tuberculosis; TST, tuberculin skin test.
†Includes Amharic, Somali, and Swahili.
‡QIAGEN, https://www.qiagen.com.
§QuantiFERON TB-Gold titer >0.35 IU/mL or reactive TST considered positive.

Main Article

Page created: April 30, 2020
Page updated: August 20, 2020
Page reviewed: August 20, 2020
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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