Randomized controlled study of the effectiveness of annual and 6-monthly screening with mass miniature radiography (MMR) for the active case-finding of cardiopulmonary TB patients

Abstract

The mining industry has used a radiological screening programme (RSP) to screen for pneumoconioses and mycobacterial diseases for decades. In a gold mining workforce, in the Free State Province, the proportion of TB cases detected by the RSP declined from 77% in 1990 to 49% in 1996. Although radiological screening has been used for decades, the efficacy of the RSP has never been formally evaluated. Both 6-monthly and annual radiological screening were used in different companies and no data were available as to which approach was the more effective, particularly with an emerging HIV epidemic in the workforce.