Abstract

Background: Sputum condition for laboratory examination of the patient with tuberculosis (TB) is essential. To ensure the excellent quality of the specimen, sputum should be immediately sent to the laboratory as soon as possible. Immediate examination in the small clinic is not possible due to limited personnel and the extent of the service area. Therefore, it is necessary to prove that there is a difference in the results of sputum examination after being delayed for 24 hours in room temperature storage and by direct observation.
The Objective: This study aimed to determine the difference between the results of microscopic examination of acid-resistant bacteria (ARB) in sputum which was directly examined and by delayed for 24 hours at room temperature. Consequently, the accuracy of each study would increase.
Method: This experiment used descriptive statistics. The difference of results between the two treatments was tested by difference test of two independent samples.
Result: Results showed that there was a difference through macroscopic observation. Sputum delayed for 24 hours in room temperature experienced changes in viscosity, odor, color and difficulty in preparations. Also, through microscopic observation, it was known that the examination results in sputum delayed for 24 hours at room temperature had a condition of mold-contaminated, difficulty in ARB observation, and high error rate.
Conclusions: There were macroscopic differences (viscosity, odor, color) and microscopic (presence of molds on the sample, high error rate) on sputum delayed for 24 hours at room temperature. It is strongly recommended that sputum TB testing is done immediately to avoid positive or negative results.
Keywords: acid resistant bacteria, microscopic examination, sputum, tuberculosis