Validade do sintoma tosse para o diagnóstico de tuberculose pulmonar em pacientes internados em hospital universitário

OBJECTIVE to evaluate the accuracy of cough symptoms in diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) among inpatients at a university hospital. METHODS: an evaluation study was conducted on diagnostic tests performed on inpatients aged >15 at a general hospital in Niteroi-RJ, Brazil, 2011-2012. RESULTS: 3,677 patients were included. Of these 608 had coughs and 15 were diagnosed with PTB; 10 out of 184 patients with symptomatic respiratory distress were diagnosed with PTB; accuracy of cough symptoms for identifying patients with TB was 83.4%; absence of coughing proved to be a good indicator for discarding diagnosis (negative predictive value 99.7%), but positive predictive value was low (0.99). CONCLUSION: productive cough showed good accuracy, although on its own it is not a good symptom for PTB screening in hospital settings; other symptoms and signs need to be identified for screening and early diagnosis in hospitals to ensure effective tuberculosis case management.