Underreporting of Notifiable Pulmonary Tuberculosis Cases to the National Tuberculosis Information Management System - China, 2015.

Tuberculosis (TB) notification data and the underreporting rate are major sources used in estimating TB incidence. China's TB Information Management System (TBIMS) was launched in 2005 but has not yet been evaluated for sensitivity. The average underreporting rate of pulmonary TB to TBIMS in selected facilities was 8.23%. However, provincial TB or infectious disease-specific health facilities, or general health facilities had higher underreporting rates. Children, migrants, and drug resistant TB patients had higher chances to be underreported than other populations. Underreporting surveys should be routinely implemented in the future. This will be vital for enhancing TB reporting and the transfer mechanisms in TB or infectious disease-specific hospitals, or general hospitals and improving the case information registration procedures in designated health facilities (DHFs).