OBJECTIVES: Every year, tuberculosis (TB), a chronic infectious disease caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis affects several people globally. However TB case detection, which remains one of the fundamental activities to achieving the global goal of eliminating TB by 2030 remained low in Kwahu East District in Ghana. This study aimed at determining health provider factors influencing low TB case detection in Kwahu East District in Ghana.

METHODS: The study was quantitative using descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study design. Data were collected using semi structured questionnaires. A total of 140 health workers were interviewed. Data were entered and cleaned using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 and then exported into STATA version 13.1 to be analyzed. Statistical significance for all testing was set as 0.05.

RESULTS: Majority of the respondents (77.14%) lacked the required knowledge on signs and symptoms for TB screening. TB screening (82.86%) and investigation (93.57%) practices were inappropriate. Inappropriate staff practices (p-value = 0.038), poor logistics and supply chain system (p-value 0.004) and weak referral and tracking systems (p-value = 0.024) were established as factors influencing low TB case detection.

CONCLUSIONS: The study established factors influencing low TB case detection and underscores the need for effective logistics and supply chain as well as human resource capacity in TB case detection.

Key words: Health providers, TB case detection, TB screening, Kwahu East District, Ghana.