Comparison of Kinyoun, auramine O, and Ziehl-Neelsen staining for diagnosing tuberculosis at the National Tuberculosis Center in Burkina Faso

Context. This study was conducted at the National Tuberculosis Center in Burkina Faso from October 2007 through May 2008. Objective. Our objective was to compare the diagnostic performance of three staining methods: Kinyoun, auramine O, and Ziehl-Neelsen. Methods. Ziehl-Neelsen staining served as the reference method to assess the diagnostic performance of Kinyoun and auramine O staining. In all, 616 sputum smears from 233 patients were read with each method to detect acid-fast bacilli. SPSS was used for data analysis. Results. The results of auramine O staining showed positive diagnoses in 15.9% of the samples; sensitivity was 100%, specificity 95.6%, and the positive and negative predictive values 75.7% and 100% respectively. Kinyoun staining produced a positive diagnosis rate of 12%, sensitivity of 96.4%, specificity of 99.5%, and positive and negative predictive values of 96.4% and 99.5%. Conclusion. Our study indicates that auramine O staining had a better sensitivity for detecting acid-fast bacilli than Kinyoun staining. Accordingly, the use of auramine O staining should increase the detection rate for pulmonary tuberculosis in Burkina Faso.