Trends in Treatment Success Rate and Associated Factors among Tuberculosis Patients in Ethiopia: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic infectious disease mainly caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB remains a major global health problem and cause of illness in millions of people each year. This study aimed to reveal trends in treatment success and independent predictors of TB in public health facilities in Sodo Town, Ethiopia. Methods: This was a facility-based retrospective study at public health facilities in Sodo Town, Ethiopia. 725 patients over a three-year period were analyzed by logistic regression. Data were entered in to Epi Info v3.5.4, thoroughly cleaned and analyzed in SPSS v20. Results: Of 725 TB patients, 591 (81.5%) were successfully treated, 41 (5.7%) died, 43 (5.9%) defaulted, 6 (0.8%) failed treatment, and 44 (6.1%) were transferred out. The odds of treatment success was 4.43-times greater for patients treated in 2012 compared to those treated in 2015 (aOR 4.43, 95% CI 1.11-16.33), while patients treated in 2014 had a 4.11-times greater probability of succeeding treatment than those treated in 2015 (aOR 4.11, 95% CI 1.20-14.12). Pulmonary-negative TB patients had a 4.72-times greater odds of succeeding treatment than extra-pulmonary TB patients (aOR 4.72, 95% CI 1.03-21.67). Likewise, HIV-positive TB patients who started co-trimoxazole preventive therapy (CPT) were 4.8- times more likely to succeed treatment than their untreated counterparts (aOR 4.80, 95% CI 1.01-22.78). Pulmonary-positive TB patients at directly-observed treatment, short-course (DOTS) initiation with negative sputum smear results at the end of the 2nd month had 31.73-times greater chance of succeeding treatment than those who were smear positive after two months of intensive-phase therapy (aOR 31.73, 95% CI 5.9-58.63). Conclusion: The overall treatment success rate was low.