Abstract：Objective To investigate the characteristics of source distribution of tuberculosis patients registered in Hunan Province from 2009 to 2016. Methods We downloaded thereported data of tuberculosis patientsregisteredin Hunan Province during 2009-2016 from Tuberculosis Management Information System, China Information System for Disease Prevention and Control. The distribution characteristics and variation trends of sources of patients registered in different regions and years were described and analyzed by Excel 2007 and SPSS13.0 software. Results A total of 447,341 patients with tuberculosis were reported in Hunan Province from 2009 to 2016. The number of the registered patients during the period of 2009-2015 was stable, but there was a slight decrease in the number of the registered patients in 2016. The vast majority (n=431,217, 96.4%) of tuberculosis patients were found or confirmed by disease treatment (41.08%), referral (32.33%) and follow-ups (23.00%). There were statistically significant differences in the distribution of the patients’ sources among cities and prefectures in Hunan Province from 2009 to 2016 (χ2=64,532.912, P=0.000). Disease treatment was the major source among the patients in Yueyang City (55.67%), Shaoyang City (52.58%) and Zhangjiajie City (49.44%), which accounted for more than half of the patients registered. Referral was the major source among the patients in Chenzhou City (47.53%), Xiangtan City(45.46%) and Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (45.26%). The main source of the patients in Changsha City was follow-ups (46.39%). The differences in the source distribution of patients registered in different years in Hunan Province during 2009-2016 were statistically significant(χ2=10,142.484,P=0.000). The proportion of patients with disease treatment in each year showed a slow downward trend (χ2=2,434.161,P=0.000), while the proportion of patients with follow-ups showed a gradually increased tendency (χ2=8,844.858, P=0.000). Conclusions The main source of tuberculosis patients registered in Hunan Province from 2009 to 2016 is disease treatment, followed by referral and follow-ups. The proportion of disease treatment shows a declined tendency in recent years, while the proportion of follow-ups increases gradually and the proportion of referral increases slightly. The patientsregistered in different cities and prefectures vary in the distribution of sources. The results suggest that strengthening the cooperation between the medical and epidemic prevention departments, earnestly implementing the patients’ follow-ups, and continuously optimizing the methods of patient discovery according to the characteristics of different cities and prefectures are necessary while intensifying the importance of health education.
2017, Vol. 24 
