Quality of comprehensive assessment among severely ill TB patients referred after triaging in southern India.

To reduce TB deaths, Tamil Nadu, a southern Indian state, implemented the first state-wide differentiated TB care strategy starting April 2022. Triage-positive severely ill patients are prioritised for comprehensive assessment and inpatient care. Routine program data during October-December 2022 revealed that documentation of total score after comprehensive assessment was available in only 39%, possibly indicating poor quality of comprehensive assessment. We confirmed this using operational research. The case record form to record comprehensive assessment was used only in 26% and among these, the completeness and correctness in filling out the form were sub-optimal. There is a clear need to enhance the quality of comprehensive assessments.