TUBERCULIN SKIN TESTING OF HOSPITALIZED-PATIENTS

OBJECTIVES: We sought to define the prevalence of tuberculin skin test (TST) positivity in a group of newly hospitalized patients, to identi fy risk factors for positive tests, and to examine the impact of testi ng on infection control practices. DESIGN: Unblinded cohort study over 5 days in July 1992. SELLING: A 1,000-bed university-affiliated hospi tal. PATIENTS: All patients admitted (excluding obstetric patients and newborns) were interviewed. Patients without a history of tuberculosi s (TB) or a positive TST were offered a TST with Candida and tetanus c ontrols. RESULTS: Of 346 patients offered the test, 21 (6%) had a prio r history of TB or a positive TST, and 36 (10%) declined to participat e; 279 of the remaining 289 completed the study. Anergy was demonstrat ed in 94 (33.7%) of 279 patients. New positive TSTs were identified in 19 (10.3%) of 185 nonanergic patients. Of the 19 TST-positive patient s, 6 (32%) had infiltrates on chest radiographs and were evaluated for active TB. One patient was treated empirically for active TB, and fiv e received isoniazid prophylaxis. Risk factors for a new positive TST included age (odds ratio [OR], 1.56 per decade of life; P=.021), Afric an American race (OR, 4.81; P=.008), alcohol abuse (OR, 5.53; P=.005), and peptic ulcer disease (OR, 4.53; P=.017). Risk factors for anergy included admission to a surgical service (OR 2.1; P=.006), current use of steroids (OR, 2.65; P=.005), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV ) infection (OR undefined; P=.034).CONCLUSIONS: Despite a high rate of anergy, routine tuberculin skin testing identified a substantial numb er of patients with TB infection who might otherwise have gone unrecog nized (Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1997;18:561-565).