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Table 1 Glossary of definitions

From: Time to diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis in indigenous peoples: a systematic review

Name

Definition

Indigenous peoples

Those who self-identified as belonging to this population group defined previously in literature [16, 23, 24]

Low incidence countries

Countries with TB incidence less than 15 cases per 100,000 population

Medium and/or high incidence countries

Countries with TB incidence of at least 15 cases per 100,000 population

Diagnosis delay (DD) /Time to diagnosis (TDx)

The duration between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis, the latter defined as a positive acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear and/or nucleic acid amplification test, positive culture of a Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex organism or clinical diagnosis

Total delay (TD) /Time to treatment (TTm)

Duration between the onset of symptoms and treatment, which is commonly stratified into two main parts, patient delay and health system delay

Health System Diagnostic delay (DCD)

Duration between the first visit with a medical professional to diagnosis as defined above

Health System Treatment delay (TmD)

Duration between diagnosis (as defined above) and treatment

Patient delay (PD)

The time from onset of symptoms to first visit with a medical professional

Health system delay (HD)

The time from the first visit with a medical professional to start of treatment

Cut-off threshold

Either defined as a median estimate or arbitrarily chosen within a study to differentiate between a delayed or timely event

Delayed event

Any duration greater than the cut-off threshold

Timely event

Any duration less than or equal to the cut-off threshold