Tuberculosis treatment outcomes using treatment supporters in Ketu South Municipality of Volta Region in Ghana

Charles Kofi Azagba,Edwin Andrew Afari

doi:10.11604/pamj.cp.2017.3.78.165

Abstract

Introduction : the current global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic places a lot of pressure on health care managers, especially those in the developing countries to seek innovative ways of delivering effective treatment to TB patients. One of the strategies employed was a directly observed therapy for all patients, where community members are used to supervise TB patients during the treatment regimen. Even though treatment supporters are used to improve the situation, proportion cured and completing treatment are still low. This study was conducted in Ketu South municipality of the Volta region in Ghana on tuberculosis treatment outcomes using treatment supporters to determine treatment supporter factors influencing treatment outcomes in the municipality. Methods : the study was a cross sectional study, using quantitative methods to collect data on 137 TB clients and their treatment supporters. Tuberculosis records were reviewed to determine the proportion of TB clients cured, those who completed treatment and those who defaulted. Questionnaire was then used to collect data from their treatment supporters. The data was analyzed using SPSS and Stata. Univariate, chi-squared and logistic regression analyses were done to determine proportions, differences and strengths of associations between the independent variables and the dependent variables. Results : tuberculosis case detection for the municipality was 96.1% with a treatment success of 79.6%. Treatment outcome for cure, completion and treatment default were 66.7%, 81.9% and 20.4% respectively. It was realized that some treatment supporter factors influenced treatment cure of the TB clients. These factors include: age of treatment supporter being older or younger than the TB client, marital status of the supporter, selection of the treatment supporter and treatment supporter’s knowledge on TB. Conclusion : tuberculosis clients are more likely to be cured when they are supervised by older people, married and have good knowledge of TB and are selected by the TB patient. Financial challenge and time spent on supervising drug intake are the main challenges faced by the treatment supporters in Ketu South municipality.

Highlights

The current global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic has put pressure on health care managers, especially those in the developing countries to seek innovative ways of delivering effective treatment to TB patients
4.1 Background Characteristics of TB Clients with Treatment Supporters in Ketu South Municipality A record was reviewed for 341 TB clients recorded in the year 2011 in the Ketu South Municipality
This was made up of 218 clients with treatment supporters residing in the municipality, 82 TB clients without treatment supporters or residing outside the municipality and 41 from Republic of Togo

Summary

Introduction

The current global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic has put pressure on health care managers, especially those in the developing countries to seek innovative ways of delivering effective treatment to TB patients. In a well equipped laboratory, SSM can diagnose about 60% of cases of pulmonary tuberculosis but in low-income countries where there is poor access to high-quality microscopy services lower proportion of Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB) is detected. In the absence of positive sputum smears for AFB, most cases of pulmonary tuberculosis are diagnosed on the basis of clinical and radiological indicators (Siddiqi, Lambert, & Walley, 2003). Supporters in Ketu South Municipality A total of 137 TB treatment supporters aged between 19 and 74 years old were interviewed and used for the study. Their mean age was 42.8 years old with standard deviation of + 13.6.

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Conclusion