Tuberculosis prevention for non-US-born pregnant women.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether non-US-born pregnant women receiving prenatal care are targeted for treatment of latent tuberculosis (TB) infection (LTBI) with isoniazid (INH) to prevent active TB.

STUDY

DESIGN

This was a retrospective chart review study of 730 non-US-born pregnant women receiving care at 5 New York City prenatal clinics from 1999 to 2000.

RESULTS

Among 678 women with known tuberculin skin test (TST) status, 341 (50.3%) had a TST-positive result, including 200 who were newly diagnosed. Of 291 TST-positive women with no previous LTBI treatment or history of TB, 27 (9.3%) completed > or =6 months of INH. In a subset with detailed follow-up, the most important reasons for not completing treatment were nonreferral for evaluation of a TST-positive result (30.9%), not keeping the appointment (17.9%), and nonadherence with prescribed treatment (34.6%).

CONCLUSION

The prenatal setting represents a missed opportunity to link TST-positive non-US-born women with LTBI treatment and support for treatment completion.