Systematic screening for tuberculosis among hospital outpatients in Cameroon: The role of screening and testing algorithms to improve case detection.

Background: Better screening and testing approaches are needed to improve TB case finding, particularly in health facilities where many people with TB seek care but are not diagnosed using the existing approaches.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the performance of various TB screening and testing approaches among hospital outpatients in a setting with a high prevalence of HIV/TB.

Methods: We screened outpatients at a large hospital in Cameroon using both chest X-ray and a symptom questionnaire including current cough, fever, night sweats and/or weight loss.