Impact of Laboratory Practice Changes on the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis with the Introduction of Xpert MTB/RIF in Kiribati.

The Republic of Kiribati, Central Pacific, has the largest tuberculosis epidemic in the region. There is a national tuberculosis control program, which has used smear microscopy for acid-fast bacilli as the main diagnostic tool for many years. In 2015, an Xpert MTB/RIF machine was procured and became functional within the tuberculosis hospital.

Evaluation of health-related quality of life in patients with tuberculosis who completed treatment in Kiribati.

Objective To examine the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and related factors among patients with smear-positive and smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) within 2 years after completion of directly observed treatment, short course (DOTS), and to compare their HRQoL with a comparison group of community-dwelling individuals without TB in South Tarawa, Kiribati. Methods A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among 206 pulmonary TB patients who had completed DOTS and 214 individuals without TB, from July to September 2012. HRQoL was measured using the Short Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36).

Effect of diabetes on tuberculosis presentation and outcomes in Kiribati.

Objectives: To determine the association between diabetes and the clinical features and treatment outcomes of TB in Kiribati.

Methods: We enrolled consecutive patients with TB who presented from August 2010 to February 2012 and compared clinical features and TB treatment outcomes for patients with and without diabetes, as measured by haemoglobin A1c assay. Poor outcome was defined as death, default or treatment failure, and good outcome as treatment success or cure.

Tuberculosis and diabetes mellitus in the Republic of Kiribati: a case-control study.

Objectives: To better inform local management of TB-diabetes collaborative activities, we aimed to determine the prevalence of diabetes among persons with and without TB and to determine the association between TB and diabetes in Kiribati, a Pacific Island nation.

Methods: We compared consecutively enrolled TB cases to a group of randomly selected community controls without evidence of TB. Diabetes was diagnosed by HbA1c, and clinical and demographic data were collected.

Battling tuberculosis in an island context with a high burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases: epidemiology, progress, and lessons learned in Kiribati, 2000 to 2012.

Objectives: To examine the epidemiology of tuberculosis (TB) in Kiribati from 2000 to 2012, document lessons learned, and recommend ways to mitigate the burden of TB in Kiribati.

Methods: A descriptive study was performed using data on TB case notifications, prevalence, incidence, mortality, and treatment outcomes from global reports and data files. Progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goal TB target (to reduce TB incidence by 2015) and the Regional Strategy to Stop Tuberculosis in the Western Pacific 2011-2015 targets (to reduce TB prevalence and mortality by half by 2015 relative to the level in 2000) was examined.