Delayed medical visit among tuberculosis patients and risk factors in Huaibei City， Anhui Province from 2017 to 2021

Objective To understand the situation about time interval between the onset and medical visit among tuberculosis patients in Huaibei City， Anhui Province from 2017 to 2021， and to determine the delayed medical visit and its risk factors， as to provide evidence for tuberculosis prevention and control.

Methods Case information of confirmed tuberculosis patients in Huaibei City in 2017‒2021 was collected from the tuberculosis management information system. Factors associated with time interval between the onset and medical visit were analyzed using rank sum test and multivariate linear regression. Furthermore， factors associated with the delayed medical visit were determined by Chi-square test， Chi-square Cocharan⁃Mantel⁃Haensze test and logistic regression.

Results The median time interval between the onset of tuberculosis and medical visit were 22 days among the tuberculosis patients in Huaibei City from 2017‒2021， and the proportion of delayed medical visit was 68.57%. There was an overall decreasing trend in the proportion of delayed medical visit over years （${\chi }_{\mathrm{t}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{d}}^{\mathrm{2}}$=17.342， P=0.002）. Using the multivariate linear regression， positive for Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in the pathogenic diagnosis， and presence of comorbidities were determined to be the risk factors associated with increased time interval between the onset and medical visit. Furthermore， logistic regression analysis showed that patients aged ≤24 years （OR=0.596， 95%CI：0.503‒0.706， P<0.05）， 25‒ years （OR=0.667， 95%CI：0.559‒0.796， P<0.05）， 35‒ years （OR=0.762， 95%CI：0.613‒0.947， P<0.05）， and 45‒54 years （OR=0.838， 95%CI：0.711‒0.987， P<0.05） had significantly lower risk of delayed medical visit than those aged ≥ 55 years old group. Regarding the household registration status， non-local residents had lower risk of delayed medical visit than local residents （OR=0.838， 95%CI：0.732‒0.960， P<0.05）.

Conclusion Positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the pathogenic diagnosis， and presence of comorbidities were risk factors associated with increased time interval between the onset and medical visit. The proportion of delayed medical visit among tuberculosis patients in Huaibei City from 2017 to 2021 showed a decreasing trend over 5 years， and age ≥55 years old and local residents were risk factors associated with delayed medical visit.