| According to the NSP 2017-2025, to eliminate TB ,whether active case finding of tuberculosis is feasible in a
programmatic setup has to be determined by a time motion study .To determine the time utilisation patterns in identifying
the presumptive TB cases and also to assess the proportion of time spent in various domains of active case finding. As a
part of undergraduate training programme in the Department of TB Chest, General Medicine and Community Medicine a
group of 50 students were utilised in this active case finding initiative in the field practise area of Muthialpet along with
faculty, post graduates, interns and medical social worker. Each day a time utilisation record was maintained.Active case
findings was done in 6609 individuals.Out of these individuals 55 presumptive cases were identified,and only 51 agreed to
take investigations. Time distribution pattern were a total of 268 hours by students,15 hours by post graduates,9 hours by
MSWs and interns each ,13 hours by faculty,and 18 hours by driver. Time utilization pattern in each activity is as follows
with data collection constituting 51810 minutes (59%),travel accounting 23550 minutes (27%),mobilization of a patient
constituting 3240(3%),follow-up accounting 1260(1%) of the total time.Time utilization pattern revealed that nearly 27%
of time is wasted in terms of travel and 4% in mobilisation and follow-up activities. This time could have been effectively
utilised for proper patient care and treatment.ddd |
