Appendix S3 Key Reporting criteria for future studies

The following criteria are characteristics of a screening programme for tuberculosis in

the homeless community designed to achieve maximum coverage and uptake and
report on clear, comparable outcomes.
Study Design
1. Has a clearly defined and well-targeted homeless population which may
include other at risk groups including substance misusers, immigrants,
refugees, prisoners, sex workers.
2. Has a sufficiently long-study period to build up awareness and trust for the
surveillance programme.
3. Raises awareness of the tuberculosis and the screening programme in
advance and may use incentives to increase uptake.
4. Uses a homeless nurse.
5. Has good relations with tuberculosis healthcare staff (e.g. TB liaison officers,
respiratory doctors and nurses) to improve treatment commencement and
adherence.
6. Chooses appropriate times/dates to maximise coverage and uptake.
7. Has minimal time between screening and result before proceeding to the next
stage. If possible, CXRs should be interpreted immediately and individuals
with an abnormal radiographs should provide sputum smear and culture
samples for positive diagnosis.
8. Genotyping performed on all positive samples to trace and manage clusters.
9. Statistical analysis methods clearly explained.
Confounding factors
10. Where possible records known preventative/risk factors of individuals inc:
a. Age
b. Gender
c. BCG status
d. Length of homelessness and time in specific shelter
e. Substance misuse
Outcome measurement
11. Clearly defines the criteria for diagnosis of an active case e.g. Sputum smear
or culture.
12. Reports on the number of active cases
13. Includes an estimate of the homeless population to estimate active case
prevalence
14. Measures LTBI prevalence using TST amongst the target population
15. Reports on the background active and latent tuberculosis prevalence in the
wider community
16. Reports on changes on either or both:
a. The change in latent/active case prevalence during or after the
surveillance programme
b. The passive case prevalence during the course of the programme.
17. Reports on treatment compliance including methods used e.g. DOTS,
isolation, incentives.
18. Includes genotyping data on clustering of related strains and transmission.
19. Includes cost data.

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