Objective To analyze the reported incidence rate of pulmonary tuberculosis and diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Jing’an District, Shanghai from 2018 to 2023, and to provide a reference basis for the prevention and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Methods Medical records, including demographic information, diagnosis and treatment information, laboratory testing results, treatment outcomes, patient prognoses, and etc., of all the patients registered for first-time management, with the disease type of pulmonary tuberculosis in Jing’an District from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2023 were extracted from the Tuberculosis Management Information System of China’s Disease Control and Prevention Information System.The reported incidence rate of pulmonary tuberculosis from 2018 to 2023 was analyzed. Additionally, the delay rate for medical consultation, diagnostic delay rate, prevalence of pulmonary cavity, rate of sputum smear-positive, sputum conversion rate of smear-positive patients after 2 months, proportion of deaths attributable to pulmonary tuberculosis or other causes, and the proportion of patients with treatment duration >1 year in 2018‒2019, 2020‒2022, and 2023 were compared, respectively.

Results A total of 1 378 pulmonary tuberculosis patients were registered for management in Jing’an District in 2018‒2023, with a reported incidence rate of 25.97/100 000, 25.72/100 000, 23.93/100 000, 22.36/100 000, 18.18/100 000, and 22.32/100 000, respectively. Meanwhile, the overall reported incidence rates in 2018‒2019, 2020‒2022, and 2023 were 25.84/100 000, 21.53/100 000, and 22.32/100 000, respectively. The median age of the patients was 56 (33, 67) years, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.94∶1. The patients with a household registration of Shanghai accounted for 70.75%, among whom those aged between 61‒<71 years were the majority. Whereas, those aged between 31‒<41 years accounted for a higher proportion in the long-term resident population. The median delay times of patient’s medical consultation, diagnosis, and case-finding were 25 (19, 33) days, 29 (21, 43) days, and 41 (32, 66) days, respectively. The delay rate for medical consultation was higher in 2020‒2022 (47.99%) and 2023 (46.89%), but lower in 2018‒2019 (31.02%). In 2018‒2019, 2020‒2022, and 2023, the diagnostic delay rate was 12.41% (68/548), 13.53% (84/621), and 16.75% (35/209), respectively. Besides, during the same time the delay rate in case-finding was 19.53%, 27.05% and 34.45%, respectively, all exhibited an increasing trend. Furthermore, the rate of patients with pulmonary cavity was 16.06%, 14.98%, and 11.00%, respectively, showing a decreasing trend. Furthermore, the rate of sputum smear-positive was 27.19%, 33.33% and 32.54%, while the sputum conversion rate of smear-positive patients after 2 months was 81.21%, 85.02% and 89.71%. The mortality rates due to tuberculosis and other causes were 3.10%, 5.64%, and 3.83%, respectively. The proportion of patients with a treatment duration of ≥365 days was 44.27% in 2018‒2019, 39.93% in 2020‒2022 and 26.60% in 2023.

Conclusion The overall reported incidence rate of pulmonary tuberculosis in Jing’an District showed a decline trend from 2018‒2022, with a slight rebound in 2023. Targeted interventions should be prioritized for the elderly with local household registration and young permanent residents without Shanghai household registration.