Assessing the effectiveness of Directly Observed Therapy short-course (DOTs) for tuberculosis in a Nigerian hospital

Abstract

This study was set out to determine the effectiveness of Directly Observed Therapy, short-course (DOTs) for tuberculosis, and to compare the effectiveness of DOTs with Non-DOTs in Plateau State Specialist Hospital, Jos Nigeria. Retrospective data made up of 241 DOTs treatment cards from February 2001 to September 2002 and 128 Non-DOTs medical files of in-patients from 1993 to 2000 was collected and analyzed using ANOVA with the aid of statistical package IBM-SPSS Version 19.0. Majority of TB cases occurred between ages 21-30 (28%) in both DOTs and Non-DOTs cases, while the least occurred in the extreme of ages (very young and old, 1.2% -5.5%). There were more males than females with TB in both cases (59% males, 41% females-DOTs; 65% males, 35% females-Non-DOTs). Civil Servants had the highest incidence of TB in DOTs (25%) while the unskilled and semiskilled workers had the highest incidence in Non-DOTs (21%). Majority of the DOTs patients were diagnosed by sputum smear examination (84%), while most of the Non-DOTs patients were diagnosed by chest X-ray (89%). Successful treatment in terms of treatment completed and cured was 67.2% for DOTs and 64.1% for Non-DOTs, giving a percentage difference of 3.1%. There was no significant difference in the percentage difference. An integration of the strengths of both programs should be employed to improve patient adherence and other treatment outcomes.Keywords: DOTs; Non-DOTs; Tuberculosis treatment outcomes.