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Chinese Journal of Antituberculosis ›› 2026, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (1): 73-83.doi: 10.19982/j.issn.1000-6621.20250334

• Original Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Meta-analysis of diagnostic delay rate among Chinese students patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

Wang Na1, Wan Bin2(), Zhao Xia2, He Ting2, Zhang Miao2, Yao Rong3, Yang Xiaoyi3   

  1. 1School of Nursing, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 610075, China
    2Department of Nursing, Chengdu Public Health Clinical Medical Center, Chengdu 610066, China
    3Department of Tuberculosis, Chengdu Public Health Clinical Medical Center, Chengdu 610066, China
  • Received:2025-08-15 Online:2026-01-10 Published:2025-12-31
  • Contact: Wan Bin E-mail:673971566@qq.com
  • Supported by:
    Sichuan Medical Association Medical Research Project(S2024036);Health Commission of Sichuan Province Medical Science and Technology Program(24QNMP049)

Abstract:

Objective: To systematically evaluate the diagnostic delay of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) among Chinese students. Methods: Cross-sectional studies related to diagnostic delay of PTB in students from China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) were collected by searching electronic databases including Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, CBM, CNKI, VIP, and WanFang Data from inception of each database to July 2025. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata 15.0 software. Results: A total of 36 cross-sectional studies were included, involving 101473 subjects and 24906 student PTB patients with diagnostic delay, the overall diagnostic delay rate was 25.54%. The risk of bias assessment indicated that 14 studies were of high quality and 22 were of moderate quality. Meta-analysis results showed that the pooled rate of diagnostic delay among Chinese student PTB patients was 25.47% (95%CI: 21.16%-29.79%). Specifically, the diagnostic delay rates were 26.41% and 27.20% for male and female patients, respectively; 24.50%, 23.80%, and 28.00% for students from eastern, central, and western regions of China, respectively; and 23.41%, 28.09%, 21.90%, and 27.08% for students with educational levels of primary school and below, junior high school, senior high school, and college and above, respectively. The diagnostic delay rates for patients detected via symptomatic visit/recommendation, referral, tracking, health check-up, and other methods were 22.10%, 28.91%, 24.20%, 18.83%, and 30.09%, respectively. The rates were 21.20% and 17.31% for Han Chinese and ethnic minority patients, 21.90% and 28.60% for new and retreatment patients, 25.00% and 14.22% for patients with negative and positive etiological test results, and 19.60% and 20.62% for local and non-local residents, respectively. Meta-analysis of seven influencing factors revealed that female gender was a protective factor against diagnosis delay (OR=0.758, 95%CI: 0.617-0.931), while non-local household registration was a risk factor for diagnosis delay (OR=1.550, 95%CI: 1.039-2.295). Conclusion: The diagnostic delay rate among Chinese student PTB patients is high. Although it has shown a yearly declining trend since 2018, significant variations in the diagnostic delay persist due to factors such as gender, region, education level, detection method, etiological test results, and ethnicity, indicating that the epidemic prevention and control situation remains severe.

Key words: Tuberculosis, pulmonary, Students, Diagnosis, Delayed, Meta-analysis as topic

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