Randomised trials, cohort studies, case series or systematic reviews of these study designs
Search period
1990 – June 2014 or inception of the database, if later than 1990
Language
Non-English language articles were excluded unless they provided a higher level of evidence than the English language articles identified
Two studies were included that assessed the direct health impact of NAAT on suspected TB patients (Theron et al. 2014; Yoon et al. 2012). However, both studies were conducted in a high-prevalence African setting, and so applicability to the Australian healthcare system is questionable. In the absence of studies conducted in a more relevant setting, the study profiles of these two studies are summarised in Table (Appendix ), and an overall summary of the body of evidence is presented in Table .
Table Body of evidence matrix for studies reporting direct evidence on the effectiveness of NAAT in the diagnosis of MTB
