Abstract: Objective　To evaluate the clinical significance of 16S-23S rRNA intergenic transcribed spacer-polymerase chain reaction（ITS-PCR）identification for nontuberculous Mycobacterium（NTM）. Methods　A total of 80 NTM identified by ITS-PCR were randomly selected. Phenotypic characteristics of NTM were identified by growth characterization test and drug sensitivity test.The results for the 3 identification methods were analyzed contrastively. Results　The proportion of Mycobacterium avium complex（MAC） and Mycobacterium abscessus was 85%.Mycobacterium abscessus，Mycobacterium kansasii，Mycobacterium fortuitum and Mycobacterium szulgai were identified accurately by ITS-PCR.The results were consistent among the results of growth characterization test，drug sensitivity test and ITS-PCR except that of MAC. Conclusions　The combination of ITS-PCR with the phenotypic identification for NTM is suitable to the clinical application.

Key words: Nontuberculous Mycobacterium, Intergenic transcribed spacer-polymerase chain reaction, Growth characterization test, Drug sensitivity test