THE TUBERCULIN TINE TEST COMPARED TO THE MANTOUX TEST WITH 5, 10, AND 100 TUBERCULIN UNITS

Abstract

The tuberculin tine test corresponds very closely to 5 or 10 TU by the Mantoux method. The agreement among infants and children (2 months to 18 years of age) was 92%. Among the positive reactors the agreement was 89% and among the negative reactors it was 95%. Considering agreement and disagreement between the two tests, the correlation coefficient was very high (r = 0.835). This value is very highly significant statistically (p < 0.001).

There was poor agreement between the tuberculin tine test and 100 TU by the Mantoux test. The correlation coefficient was very low (r=0.192).

There was a very high degree of correlation between the tuberculin tine test and the Mantoux test quantitatively (r = 0.788; p < 0.001).

The tine test stores well at room and icebox temperatures at periods up to 23 months. Storage at 37°C showed very little drop in potency up to 4 to 9 months of storage. After 15 months of storage, a drop in potency was noted. The recommended method of storage is room temperature.

There were 1,664 infants and children tested and compared.