Poor Tuberculosis Treatment Outcomes Research Articles

Factors influencing treatment outcomes in tuberculosis patients in Limpopo Province, South Africa, from 2006 to 2010: A retrospective study.

South Africa has a high burden of tuberculosis (TB), with high human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-TB co-infection rates and the emergence of multidrugresistant TB. To describe treatment outcomes and factors influencing outcomes amongst pulmonary TB (PTB) patients in the Limpopo Province. A retrospective review was conducted of data on the provincial electronic TB register (ETR.net) for the years 2006 to 2010 (inclusive), and a random sample of 1200 records was selected for further analysis. The Chi square test was used to examine the influence of age, gender, health facility level, diagnostic category and treatment regimen on treatment outcomes. Overall 90 617 (54.6% male) PTB patients were registered between 2006 and 2010. Of the sampled 1200 TB cases, 72.6% were in persons aged 22 to 55 years and 86.2% were new cases. The TB mortality rate was 13.6% (much higher than the World Health Organization target of 3%), whilst the default rate was 9.8%. There was a strong association between age (P < 0.001), diagnostic category (P < 0.001), treatment regimen (P < 0.001), and health facility level (P < 0.001) and treatment outcome. Those aged 22–55, and 56–74 years were more likely to die (P < 0.05). Poor treatment outcomes were also associated with initial treatment failure, receiving treatment at hospital and treatment regimen II. The poor TB treatment outcomes in Limpopo, characterised by a high mortality and default rates, call for strengthening of the TB control programme, which should include integration of HIV and/or AIDS and TB services.

Household income and poor treatment outcome among patients with tuberculosis in Georgia: a cohort study

BackgroundPoverty is associated with increased risk of active tuberculosis (TB) disease onset, but the relation between household income and TB treatment outcomes is not well understood. The objective of this study was to determine household income characteristics associated with poor TB treatment outcome among newly diagnosed patients with pulmonary TB in the country of Georgia.MethodsA prospective cohort study was conducted among newly diagnosed smear positive pulmonary TB patients. Clinical and household data were collected from all consecutive patients seeking care at TB facilities in two major cities and one rural region in Georgia. Patients were followed prospectively during anti-TB regimens to determine treatment outcome. Bivariate analyses were used to determine the association of individual patient and household level characteristics with poor TB treatment outcome. A multivariable logistic model was used to estimate the adjusted association between patient household characteristics and poor TB treatment outcome.ResultsAfter six months TB therapy, treatment outcome was available for 193 of 202 enrolled patients, of these 155 (80.3%) had a favorable TB treatment outcome. Compared to TB patients with poor treatment outcome, those with favorable treatment outcomes were younger (median 33.0 vs. 42.5 years), reported higher household monthly income (median $137 USD vs. $85 USD), were less likely to be unemployed (38.7 vs. 47.4%), and had higher level of education (38.7% vs. 31.6% with college education or greater). In multivariable analysis adjusted for age, sex, and socio-economic indicators, only low household income was remained statistically significantly associated with poor TB treatment outcome. Compared with patients from households with the highest tertile of monthly income, those in the middle tertile (aOR 4.28 95% CI 1.36, 13.53) and those in the lowest category of income (aOR 6.18 95% CI 1.83, 20.94) were significantly more likely to have poor treatment outcomes.ConclusionWe demonstrated that TB patients in Georgia with lower household income were at greater risk of poor TB treatment outcomes. Providing targeted social assistance to TB patients and their households may improve clinical response to anti-TB therapy.

Managing tuberculosis in patients with diabetes mellitus: why we care and what we know

As the global prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) increases, especially in low-to-middle income countries where tuberculosis (TB) remains endemic, we will encounter a growing number of TB patients with DM. This is a major concern for TB control programs, clinicians and patients alike because DM patients are at an increased risk of TB and are more likely to face poor TB treatment outcomes, including treatment failure, relapse and even death. Priority should be placed on early detection of both diseases through active screening, monitoring of adherence to medications for both diseases, and integration of TB and DM management strategies that would facilitate the provision of more comprehensive services that TB patients with DM require.

Association of BMI Category Change with TB Treatment Mortality in HIV-Positive Smear-Negative and Extrapulmonary TB Patients in Myanmar and Zimbabwe

ObjectiveThe HIV epidemic has increased the proportion of patients with smear-negative and extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB) diagnoses, with related higher rates of poor TB treatment outcomes. Unlike in smear-positive pulmonary TB, no interim markers of TB treatment progress are systematically used to identify individuals most at risk of mortality. The objective of this study was to assess the association of body mass index (BMI) change at 1 month (±15 days) from TB treatment start with mortality among HIV-positive individuals with smear-negative and extrapulmonary TB.Methods and FindingsA retrospective cohort study of adult HIV-positive new TB patients in Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) treatment programmes in Myanmar and Zimbabwe was conducted using Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate the association between BMI category change and mortality. A cohort of 1090 TB patients (605 smear-negative and 485 extrapulmonary) was followed during TB treatment with mortality rate of 28.9 per 100 person-years. In multivariable analyses, remaining severely underweight or moving to a lower BMI category increased mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 4.05, 95% confidence interval 2.77–5.91, p<0.001) compared with remaining in the same or moving to a higher BMI category.ConclusionsWe found a strong association between BMI category change during the first month of TB treatment and mortality. BMI category change could be used to identify individuals most at risk of mortality during TB treatment among smear-negative and extrapulmonary patients.

Patient satisfaction, feasibility and reliability of satisfaction questionnaire among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in urban Uganda: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundA comprehensive understanding of the barriers to and facilitators of poor tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcome is still lacking; posing a major obstacle to finding effective solutions. Assessment of patient satisfaction in TB programs would contribute to the understanding of gaps in healthcare delivery and the specific needs of individual patients. However, tools for assessing patient satisfaction are lacking.ObjectiveTo establish patient satisfaction, the feasibility and reliability of a questionnaire for healthcare service satisfaction and a questionnaire for satisfaction with information received about TB medicines among adult TB patients attending public and private program clinics in Kampala, Uganda.MethodsIn a cross-sectional study, we recruited 133 patients of known HIV status and confirmed pulmonary TB receiving care at the public and private hospitals in Kampala, Uganda. Participants were enrolled based on length of TB treatment as follows: starting therapy, completed two months of therapy, and completed eight months of therapy. A translated and standardized 13-item patient healthcare service satisfaction questionnaire (PS-13) and the Satisfaction with Information about Medicines Scale (SIMS) tool were administered by trained interviewers. Factor analysis was used to systematically group the PS-13 questionnaire into three factors of technical quality of care, responsiveness to patient preference, and management of patient preference satisfaction subscales. The SIMS tool was analyzed with two subscales of information about the action and usage of medication and the potential problems with medication.ResultsOf the 133 participants, 35% (46/133) were starting, 33% (44/133) had completed two months, and 32% (43/133) had completed eight months of TB therapy. The male to female and public to private hospital ratios in the study population were 1:1. The PS-13 and the SIMS tools were highly acceptable and easily administered. Both scales and the subscales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha above 0.70. Patients that were enrolled at the public hospital had relatively lower PS-13 satisfaction scores (0.48 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.42 - 0.52)), (0.86 (95% CI, 0.81 - 0.90)) for technical quality of care and responsiveness to patient preferences, respectively compared to patients that were enrolled at the private hospital. For potential problems SIMS subscale, male patients that were recruited at the public hospital had relatively lower satisfaction scores (0.58 (95% CI, 0.40 - 0.86)) compared to female patients after adjusting for other factors. Similarly, patients that had completed eight months of TB treatment had relatively higher satisfaction scores (1.23 (95% CI, 1.06 - 1.44)) for action and usage SIMS subscale, and higher satisfaction scores (1.09 (95% CI, 1.03 - 1.16)) for management of patient preference (PS-13 satisfaction subscale) compared to patients that were starting treatment, respectively.ConclusionThe study provides preliminary evidence that the PS-13 service satisfaction and the SIMS tools are reliable measures of patient satisfaction in TB programs. Satisfaction score findings suggest differences in patient satisfaction levels between public and private hospitals; between patients starting and those completing TB therapy.

Outcomes of tuberculosis treatment: a retrospective cohort analysis of smoking versus non-smoking patients in Penang, Malaysia

The association between tobacco smoking and tuberculosis (TB) is increasingly coming to light and the literature is laden with the evidence of this association. However, only a few observational studies specifically investigated the association between smoking and TB treatment outcomes. The present study aims to determine the prevalence of smoking among TB patients in Penang and to compare the treatment outcomes between smoking and non-smoking TB patients. A retrospective estimate of smoking prevalence among patients with TB and a retrospective cohort study comparing smoking and non-smoking TB patients with regards to treatment outcomes was conducted. The data were extracted from medical records of newly diagnosed TB patients who registered at a chest clinic at a tertiary care hospital in the state of Penang, Malaysia from January 2006 to June 2008. The prevalence of ever-smoking among TB patients was 53.4%. Smoking was significantly associated with male gender, alcohol use, and intravenous drug use (IVDU). Ever smokers had increased likelihood of treatment failure (OR 7.48), default (OR 7.17) and were less likely to be cured (OR 0.34). After controlling for the effects of confounders using multivariate logistic regression, ever smokers were still less likely to be cured (aOR 0.31) and more likely to default treatment (aOR 3.24). Dying from TB did not reach statistical significance. Prevalence of smoking was high among TB patients in Malaysia. This study further reaffirms that smoking is an independent predictor of poor TB treatment outcomes and prognosis.

Risk factors for poor tuberculosis treatment outcome in Finland: a cohort study

BackgroundWe investigated the patient- and treatment-system dependent factors affecting treatment outcome in a two-year cohort of all treated culture-verified pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) cases to establish a basis for improving outcomes.MethodsMedical records of all cases in 1995 – 1996 were abstracted to assess outcome of treatment. Outcome was divided into three groups: favourable, death and other unfavourable. Predictors of unfavourable outcome were assessed in univariate and multivariate analysis.ResultsAmong 629 cases a favourable outcome was achieved in 441 (70.1%), 17.2% (108) died and other unfavourable outcome took place in 12.7% (80). Significant independent risk factors for death were male sex, high age, non-HIV -related immunosuppression and any other than a pulmonary specialty being responsible for stopping treatment. History of previous tuberculosis was inversely associated with the risk of death. For other unfavourable treatment outcomes, significant risk factors were pause(s) in treatment, treatment with INH+RIF+EMB/SM, and internal medicine specialty being responsible at the end of the treatment.ConclusionWe observed a significant association with unfavourable outcome for the specialty responsible for treatment being other than pulmonary, but not for the volume of cases, which has implications for system arrangements. Poor outcomes associated with immunosuppression and advanced age, with frequent comorbidity, stress a low threshold of suspicion, availability of rapid diagnostics, and early empiric treatment as probable approaches in attempting to improve treatment outcomes in countries with very low incidence of TB.