Diagnostic dilemma of pulmonary tuberculosis among adults with severe mental illness in Beijing, China.

Background: Although the prevalence of tuberculosis has decreased significantly over the past decades, the certain populations with mental illness are at increased risk for tuberculosis infection and transmission. However, no studies have examined the performance of different laboratory examination methods among people with severe mental illness in China.

Methods: In this study, we firstly performed a retrospective study to evaluate the feasibility of three routine laboratory methods, including sputum microscopy, solid culture and GeneXpert, to diagnose tuberculosis patients with mental illness.