Baseline characteristics of children in different diagnostic classes
| Included children | Excluded children# | Confirmed TB | Probable TB | Possible TB | MTB infection | No TB | p-value¶ | |
| Subjects n | 132 | 45 | 18 | 36 | 43 | 14 | 21 | |
| Sex male+ | 70 (53) | 22 (50) | 7 (39) | 19 (53) | 22 (51) | 8 (57) | 14 (67) | 0.083 |
| Age years | 6.8 (3.9–9.5) | 2.1 (0.7–5.5) | 7.3 (4.8–11.5) | 6.8 (3.9–9.4) | 7.2 (3.9–10.0) | 5.2 (2.6–8–8) | 5.9 (3.9–10.1) | 0.383 |
| BMI for age z-score | −0.44 (−1.5–0.4) | −1.35 (−3.1–0.1) | −1.21 (−2.6–0.1) | −0.11 (−1.2–0.6) | −0.96 (−2.0–0.2) | 0.56 (−0.3–1.1) | −0.49 (−1.2–0.4) | 0.105 |
| TST reactive | 44 (36) | 11 (31) | 10 (59) | 18 (55) | 5 (12) | 11 (92) | 0 | <0.001 |
| Proteinuria >30 mg§ | 13 (10) | 3 (20) | 4 (22) | 4 (11) | 4 (10) | 0 | 1 (5) | 0.104 |
| Mortality | 11 (8) | 11 (24) | 0 | 3 (8) | 8 (19) | 0 | 0 | |
| Days to treatment | 21 (7–58) | 15 (5–40) | 9 (6–25) | 18 (7–44) | 31 (13–76) | N/A | 40 (6–61) | 0.307 |
| HIV-positive | 67 (51) | 19 (53) | 10 (56) | 18 (50) | 22 (51) | 4 (29) | 13 (62) | 0.688 |
| In HIV-positive children: | ||||||||
| ART at baseline | 17 (25) | 3 (16) | 1 (10) | 5 (28) | 7 (32) | 0 | 4 (31) | 0.231 |
| No significant immunosuppressionƒ | 18 (27) | 1 (6) | 1 (10) | 5 (28) | 5 (24) | 1 (25) | 6 (46) | 0.062 |
| Mild immunosuppressionƒ | 5 (8) | 1 (6) | 2 (20) | 0 | 2 (10) | 0 | 1 (8) | 0.385 |
| Advanced immunosuppressionƒ | 8 (12) | 0 | 3 (30) | 2 (11) | 1 (5%) | 1 (25) | 1 (8) | 0.162 |
| Severe immunosuppressionƒ | 35 (53) | 15 (88) | 4 (40) | 11 (61) | 13 (62) | 2 (50) | 5 (38) | 0.940 |
Data are presented as n (%) or median (interquartile range), unless otherwise stated. Site of tuberculosis for children with confirmed tuberculosis (TB): two perihilar infiltrate, nine hilar lymphadenopathy, three tuberculous bronchopneumonia, four tuberculous pleural effusion. Site of tuberculosis for children with probable TB: nine perihilar infiltrate, nine hilar lymphadenopathy, seven tuberculous bronchopneumonia, three tuberculous pleural effusion, three military TB, one cavitating pulmonary TB. MTB: Mycobacterium tuberculosis; BMI: body mass index; TST, tuberculin skin test; ART: antiretroviral therapy. #: for three of the 48 excluded children no further clinical data were available; ¶: p-value for comparison between children with confirmed TB and no TB using Pearson's Chi-squared test for binary and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test for continuous variables; +: for one (excluded) child no sex information was available; §: for two included children no urine dipstick result was available; ƒ: for one included child no CD4 count was measured and the level of immunosuppression could not be calculated.