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Model of Wang et al for Identifying a Patient with Sputum-Positive Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Description

Wang et al reported a simple score for identifying a patient with pulmonary tuberculosis whose sputum is positive for acid-fast bacilli. A patient with a large number of acid-fast bacilli in the sputum is more infectious. The authors are from Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan.


Parameters:

(1) age in years

(2) fever

(3) cavitary disease in chest X-ray

(4) consolidation in chest X-ray

(5) lesions in right upper field in chest X-ray

(6) lesions in left upper field in chest X-ray

 

Parameter

Finding

Points

age in years

< 65 years

1

 

>= 65 years

0

fever

absent

0

 

present

1

cavitary disease

absent

0

 

present

1

consolidation

absent

0

 

present

1

lesions in right upper field

absent

0

 

present

1

lesions in left upper field

absent

0

 

present

1

 

total score =

= SUM(points for all 6 parameters)

 

Interpretation:

• minimum score: 0

• maximum score: 6

• A score >= 5 is associated with a high risk for positive sputum.

• A score of 0 is associated with a very low risk for positive sputum.

 

Score

Percent Positive

0

0%

1 or 2

20%

3 or 4

75%

5

96%

6

100%

 

Performance:

• The area under the ROC curve is 0.79.


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