Timing, rates, and causes of death in a large South African tuberculosis programme.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) mortality remains high across sub-Saharan Africa despite integration of TB and HIV/ART programmes. To inform programme design and service delivery, we estimated mortality by time from starting TB treatment.

Methods: Routinely collected data on TB treatment, vital status, and the timing and causes of death, were linked to cardio-respiratory autopsy data, from 1995-2008, from a cohort of male platinum miners in South Africa.

Quantifying errors in the estimation of tuberculosis mortality in a population of South African miners.

Background: All-cause mortality, based on national tuberculosis programme (NTP) register deaths, may under- or overestimate tuberculosis (TB) specific mortality in the population.

Objective: To assess the factors influencing this measurement in a single large population with high TB prevalence and mortality.

Methods: Routinely collected data on TB cases and treatment outcomes were linked to population data from a cohort of South African miners from 1995 to 2008.

The impact of HIV, an antiretroviral programme and tuberculosis on mortality in South African platinum miners, 1992-2010.

Background: HIV and tuberculosis (TB) are the most common causes of death in South Africa. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) programmes should have had an impact on mortality rates. This study describes the impact of HIV, a Wellness (HIV/ART) programme and TB on population-wide trends in mortality and causes of death among South African platinum miners, from before the HIV epidemic into the ART era.

Unnatural deaths in South African platinum miners, 1992-2008.

Background: The mortality rate from unnatural deaths for South Africa is nearly double the world average. Reliable data are limited by inaccurate and incomplete ascertainment of specific causes of unnatural death. This study describes trends in causes of unnatural death between 1992 and 2008 in a cohort of South African miners.

Missed opportunities in TB diagnosis: a TB process-based performance review tool to evaluate and improve clinical care.

Background: Traditional tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcome measures, such as cure rate, do not provide insight into the underlying reasons for missing clinical targets. We evaluated a TB Process-Based Performance Review (TB-PBPR) tool, developed to identify "missed opportunities" for timely and accurate diagnosis of TB. The tool enables performance assessment at the level of process and quality of care.