Barriers and facilitators to tuberculosis diagnosis in Lima, Peru: a mixed methods study.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) infectiousness decreases significantly with only a few days of treatment, but delayed diagnosis often leads to late treatment initiation. We conducted a sequential explanatory mixed methods study to understand the barriers and facilitators to prompt diagnosis among people with TB.

Methods: We enrolled 100 adults who started TB treatment in the Carabayllo district of Lima, Peru, between November 2020 and February 2022 and administered a survey about their symptoms and healthcare encounters.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients' experiences obtaining a tuberculosis diagnosis in Peru: a mixed-methods study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted TB services worldwide, leading to diagnostic delays. There have been few published reports describing how the pandemic affected people's pathway to diagnosis from their own perspectives. We sought to evaluate the impact on the pandemic on people's experiences obtaining a TB diagnosis.

Geospatial analysis of reported activity locations to identify sites for tuberculosis screening.

Mobile screening units can help close tuberculosis case detection gaps. Placing screening units where people at high risk for undiagnosed tuberculosis preferentially spend time could make screening more resource-effective. We conducted a case-control study in Lima, Peru to identify locations where people with tuberculosis were more likely to spend time than community controls.