Abstract
BackgroundThe prison situations are notorious for causing interruptions of tuberculosis (TB) treatment and occurrence of unfavorable outcomes. In Ethiopian prisons, though TB treatment programs exist, treatment outcome results and factors contributing to unsuccessful outcome are not well documented. In this study, we assessed the treatment outcome of TB cases and identified risk factors for unsuccessful outcome in northern Ethiopian prisons.MethodsA retrospective record review was conducted for all prisoners diagnosed with TB between September 2011 and August 2015. Outcome variables were defined following WHO guidelines.ResultsOut of the 496 patients, 11.5% were cured, 68% completed treatment, 2.5% were lost to follow-up, 1.6% were with a treatment failure, 1.4% died, and 15% were transferred out. All transferred out or released prisoners were not appropriately linked to health facilities and might be lost to treatment follow-up. The overall treatment success rate (TSR) of the 5 years was 94% among the patients who were not transferred out. The odds of unsuccessful outcome were 4.68 times greater among re-treatment cases compared to the newly treated cases. The year of treatment was also associated with variations in TSR; those treated during the earlier year were more likely to have unsuccessful outcome. Sputum non-conversion at the second-month check-up was strongly associated with unsuccessful outcome among the smear-positive cases.ConclusionsThe mean TSR of the prisoners in the study prisons was quite satisfactory when gauged against the target level set by the End TB Strategy. However, the lack of appropriate linkage and tracking systems for those prisoners transferred or released before their treatment completion would have a negative implication for the national TB control program as such patients might interrupt their treatment and develop drug-resistant TB. Being in a re-treatment regimen and sputum non-conversion at the second-month check-up were significantly associated with unsuccessful treatment outcome among the all forms of and smear-positive TB cases, respectively.
Highlights
The prison situations are notorious for causing interruptions of tuberculosis (TB) treatment and occurrence of unfavorable outcomes
Our study demonstrates that the directly observed treatment short-course (DOTS) program is effectively functioning for prisoners that complete their TB treatment while in the study prisons
In the Tigray region of Ethiopia, 55% of the presumptive MDR cases have been shown to harbor MDR strains [33]. We suggest that such prisoners should be immediately referred for drug susceptibility testing (DST)
Summary
The prison situations are notorious for causing interruptions of tuberculosis (TB) treatment and occurrence of unfavorable outcomes. In Ethiopian prisons, though TB treatment programs exist, treatment outcome results and factors contributing to unsuccessful outcome are not well documented. We assessed the treatment outcome of TB cases and identified risk factors for unsuccessful outcome in northern Ethiopian prisons. The high prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and the lack of well-organized TB diagnostic and treatment systems [2, 4] contribute to the disproportionate burden of TB in the Sub-Saharan African prisons. The prison situations are notorious for causing interruptions of TB treatment and occurrence of unfavorable outcomes [6]. In Russian and Brazilian prisons, 12% [8] and 8% [9] of the TB cases have been reported to default their treatment, respectively. The TB treatment category, HIV co-infection, smoking, alcoholism, and a lack of family support have been indicated as factors affecting TB treatment success in prisons [8, 9, 11]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
