Systematic review on the diagnosis, treatment, care and prevention of tuberculosis in prison settings
People in prisons have a higher prevalence of several communicable diseases than the general population, a fact which affects both the prison and the general population.
Executive summary
The objective of this report is to systematically review data on diagnosis, treatment, care and prevention of tuberculosis (TB) in prison settings, with a focus on the countries of the European Union and the European Economic Area.
A systematic literature review was performed in PubMed and Embase (1990 and newer) and in the Cochrane Library (publications from 1980 and newer). No language or geographical limits were applied. In addition, the following sources were searched through a predefined website list search and a call for papers: conference abstracts (2010 or newer), unpublished research reports, protocols and guidelines (2005 and newer).
From the peer-reviewed literature, 34 primary articles were included: four articles on TB diagnosis, 18 articles on TB care/treatment, and 12 articles on TB prevention. Furthermore, a total of eight conference abstracts/unpublished research reports and 15 guidelines were included.
