A mortality review of adult inpatients with tuberculosis in Mendi, Papua New Guinea

SETTING: Mendi Provincial Hospital, Southern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG). BACKGROUND: PNG is a high burden country for tuberculosis (TB) and TB-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). TB is the second most common cause of death in PNG. OBJECTIVE: To identify the number of adult inpatients with TB who died between 1 January 2015 and 30 August 2017; describe these patients' characteristics and identify contributing factors that could be modified. DESIGN: This was a retrospective case series review. CONCLUSION: This study highlights areas where community and hospital-based management of TB could be improved to potentially reduce TB mortality, including earlier detection and treatment, improved bacteriological diagnosis and increased HIV testing.