Treatment outcomes for elderly patients in Thailand with pulmonary tuberculosis

Abstract

Abstract Background Elderly patients with pulmonary tuberculosis are less likely to achieve treatment success than younger patients, and patients aged ≥60 years have a substantial increase in mortality. Objectives To compare treatment outcomes over 2 periods during the transition of Thai national tuberculosis (TB) reporting systems and determine treatment success rates and mortality for elderly patients in TB treatment-care settings in Thailand. Methods Retrospective cohort study of all records of elderly patients extracted from 2 national TB databases in Thailand: the TB Case Management (TBCM) database of the National TB Program (2014–2015) and the database of the National Health Security Office (NHSO; 2010–2011). Results There were 8,301 elderly patients with TB in the TBCM cohort and 11,869 in the NHSO cohort. Overall treatment success rates were 78.5% for patients in the TBCM cohort and 87.5% for patients in the NHSO cohort. High success rates for treatment were found for those aged 60–69 years: 91.1% in 2010–2011 and 85.0% in 2014–2015. High mortality was reported for patients aged ≥90 years: 34.6% in 2010–2011 and 50.0% in 2014–2015. Conclusions Compared with the NHSO historical cohort, success rates for treatment were lower and death rates were higher in the TBCM cohort. Because NHSO enforced intensive case monitoring and follow-up while TBCM has no such mechanism, the estimates from the TBCM database may be less accurate for TB circumstances in Thailand. Frequent routine home visits may ensure more complete treatment-care information and support, and increase the treatment success rate in the elderly.