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Purpose: This study aims to measure the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), its association with imprisonment status and to document the treatment success rate (TSR) among prisoners in Songkhla province, Southern Thailand., Design/methodology/approach: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in five prisons in Songkhla province, including all prisoners in the fiscal of year 2019, who had an annual chest radiography (CXR) screening result. Information of prisoners who had been imprisoned from 1 October 2018 to 30 September 2019, were reviewed for PTB diagnosis. Imprisonment status and other associated factors with PTB were analyzed using multiple logistic regression., Findings: The prevalence of PTB was 2.72%. Prisoners having new or transfer-in status were more likely to have PTB. Those aged 40-80 years, who had smoked for ten years or more, or who were underweight, had higher odds of having PTB. TSR among prisoners with PTB in this study was 94.9%., Originality/value: The prevalence of PTB among prisoners having annual CXR screening was high. Detection of PTB was higher among new or transfer-in prisoners; therefore, the CXR for PTB screening before admission to prison should be performed to prevent transmission to other prisoners., (© Emerald Publishing Limited.)

Settings: Twenty-seven prisons in Thailand., Objectives: To measure the prevalence of smear-positive tuberculosis (TB) and to compare its detection using the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for prisons or the International Standards for Tuberculosis Care (ISTC) criteria., Method: Prisoners who were not on TB medications and who had not been treated for TB in the previous 6 months were enrolled in the survey. Prison nurses conducted a one-time mass screening using the WHO questionnaire, with follow-up sputum collection in TB suspects., Results: Of 71594 prisoners, 22132 (30.9%) were identified as TB suspects, and 254 were confirmed by sputum smear, for a prevalence of 354.8/100000. Males were most likely to be diagnosed with TB disease (OR 2.6), as were those transferring in from another prison versus new prisoners (OR 3.0). The positive predictive value of the WHO criteria was 1.2%, and that of the ISTC standard was 5.9%., Conclusion: TB prevalence in this survey remained high. WHO guidelines, recognised as a standard, require health workers to question prisoners and measure height and weight. The ISTC standard, a single question about cough >or=2 weeks, is simple, may be asked by non-health personnel and may be a better alternative.

Settings: Sixteen prisons located in four geographic regions in Thailand., Objectives: To assess treatment outcomes of tuberculosis (TB) patients under the DOTS strategy in a prison programme., Method: The programme prospectively included 1412 consecutive TB patients registered during Year 1 (June 1999-May 2000), Year 2 (June 2000-May 2001) and Year 3 (June 2001-May 2002). DOTS implementation consisted of government commitment; passive detection by sputum smear microscopy; standardised short-course chemotherapy, including directly observed treatment by prison nurses; maintenance of drug stocks at provincial health offices; and a recording and reporting system. Data were collected using prison TB registers., Results: The number of TB patients increased from 348 in Year 1 to 490 in Year 2 and to 574 in Year 3. New smear-positive patients accounted for 82.0% of the total. Of the 1158 new smear-positive cases, 68.7% were cured, 17.6% died, 10.6% were transferred out, 2.6% failed, and 0.5% completed treatment., Conclusions: DOTS implementation in these prisons could not achieve the national target to cure 85% of new smear-positive cases. More interventions are needed to help reduce the deaths and transferred cases that mainly affected the treatment outcomes in these settings.

Setting: Three prisons in Bangkok and vicinity, Thailand., Objective: To examine the prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis among smear-positive cases in Thai prisons 2 years after the implementation of the DOTS strategy, and to identify factors associated with resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs., Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 154 consecutive tuberculosis patients with at least one positive sputum smear and at least one positive sputum culture registered between 1 May and 31 October 2000 were enrolled. Drug susceptibility testing was performed by the Ministry of Public Health Tuberculosis Division. Patient characteristics were obtained by face-to-face interview., Results: Resistance to at least one drug was found in 50.6% of the subjects, including multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in 19.5%. The proportion of resistance to any anti-tuberculosis drug in prisons A, B and C was respectively 52.7%, 37.8% and 61.5%. The only factor significantly associated with resistance to at least one drug (P = 0.011) and MDR-TB (P < 0.001) was a history of previous tuberculosis treatment., Conclusion: After 2 years of the DOTS strategy, resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs, an indicator of the quality of tuberculosis treatment, was found to be high. The DOTS strategy currently used in Thai prisons should be reviewed, in order to reduce and prevent drug-resistant tuberculosis.