Treatment Default Research Articles

The complexity of TB/HIV coinfection: an analysis of the social and health services context in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Brazil is in the 19th position of priority countries for the control of TB/HIV coinfection, so we aimed to analyze the social and health services contexts that are associated with TB/HIV coinfection in São Paulo state. Ecological study conducted in 645 cities of the state. The study population consisted of 10,389 new cases of TB/HIV coinfection in state residents between 2010 and 2015. The variables and indicators used in the study were collected from secondary sources. To identify the factors associated with the occurrence of TB/HIV coinfection cases, generalized additive models for location, scale and shape were used. The best distribution model was defined from the lowest Akaike information criterion value. There was an association between the occurrence of coinfection and the diagnosis of TB after death and greater treatment default. There was also an association with greater coverage of nurses and Family Health Strategy, which comprises Primary Care settings focused on families. Regarding the social context, the Gini Coefficient of inequality was identified as a determinant of coinfection. The study presents the complexity of TB/HIV coinfection, proposing critical points in the health services and social context. Despite the high coverage of nurses and Family Health Strategy in some cities, this did not affect the reduction of the incidence of coinfection. These findings may be attributed to a fragmented care and focused on acute conditions. Furthermore, this model of care holds few prospects for care integration or prioritization of prevention and health promotion actions.

Results of treatment with bedaquiline containing regimens of MDR/XDR tuberculosis patients including those with concurrent HIV infection (the experience of Leningrad Region)

The effectiveness of tuberculosis control is associated with efficacy of treatment of TB patients and above all patients with multiple and extensive drug resistance (MDR/XDR MTB). Patients with TB/HIV co-infection providethe significant impact on the situation.The objective of the studyis to assess outcomes of chemotherapy regimens containing bedaquiline in patients with MDR/XDR TB including those with concurrent HIV infection.Subjects and methods. The efficacy and safety of the regimes containing bedaquiline were assessed in the intensive phase of chemotherapy in 80 patients with MDR/XDR TB: Group1 consisted of 46 patients with negative HIV status (ICD10 code A15-A19); Group 2 – 34 HIV positive patients at the advanced stage with manifestations of a mycobacterial infection (ICD10 code B20.0).Results. Treatment outcomes in the groups were as follows: the effective treatment was statistically significantly more frequent in Group 1 versus Group 2 (80.4 and 52.9%, respectively, p = 0.0088). Treatment failure was registered in 3 patients from each group; treatment defaults were statistically significantly more frequent in Group 2 compared to Group 1: in 8/34 versus 2/46 (p = 0.011). 3 patients were transferred out in both Group 1 and Group 2 (3/46 and 3/34, p = 0.69). During treatment, only 1 patient from Group 2 developed an adverse event, most likely associated with the in-take of bedaquiline, a heart rhythm disorder (ventricular arrhythmia) and prolongation of QTcF > 450 ms.

Clinical and economic aspects of enhanced treatment efficacy of multiple drug resistant tuberculosis

The objective of the study: To evaluate the clinical and economic efficacy of chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed multiple drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR).Subjects and methods. The number and structure of MDR tuberculosis patients living on the territory of the Republic of Karelia from 2008 to 2017 were studied. The clinical and economic efficacy of treatment of MDR tuberculosis patients was assessed.Results. In 2011-2017, decrease in the number of MDR patients in the Republic of Karelia was mainly due to enhanced treatment efficacy of new MDR tuberculosis cases. The introduction of social support methods (food parsels) and express drug sensitivity testing to rifampicin using the Gene Xpert MTB/RIF was associated with higher treatment efficacy – from 37.2% (2013) to 58% (2014), the lower rate of treatment defaults, and significant decrease in mortality, as well as reduction of costs for curing of one MDR tuberculosis patient from1.68 million rubles in 2012 up to 0.77 million rubles in 2014.

Employee Treatment and Bank Default Risk during the Credit Crisis

We examine whether banks’ interest in the well-being of their workforce, measured by an index of employee relations strengths, explains their default risk during the recent credit crisis. Using a sample of 179 U.S. banks, we find that banks with greater pre-crisis employee relations strengths experience lower default risk and have higher excess returns during the crisis. These banks have lower asset volatility and leverage, suggesting that bank default risk is mitigated through lowering operational and financial risks. Banks’ prudent risk-taking behavior benefits shareholders in times of heightened risk. The results are robust to alternative model specifications and endogeneity issues.

Tuberculosis treatment outcomes and associated factors in two states in Nigeria

To determine the treatment success rate among TB patients and associated factors in Anambra and Oyo, the two states with the largest burden of tuberculosis in Nigeria. A health facility record review for 2016 was conducted in the two states (Anambra and Oyo). A checklist was used to extract relevant information from the records kept in each of the selected DOTS facilities to determine TB treatment success rates. Treatment success rate was defined as the proportion of new smear-positive TB cases registered under DOTS in a given year that successfully completed treatment, whether with bacteriologic evidence of success ('cured') or without ('treatment completed'). Treatment success rate was classified into good (≥85%) and poor (<85%) success rates using the 85% national target for TB treatment outcome. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and chi-square at P<0.05. There were 1281TB treatment enrollees in 2016 in Anambra and 3809 in Oyo (total=4835). An overall treatment success rate of 75.8% was achieved (Anambra-57.5%; Oyo-82.0%). The percentage cure rates were 61.5% for Anambra and 85.2% for Oyo. Overall, only 28.6% of the facilities in both states (Anambra-0.0%; Oyo-60.0%) had a good treatment success rate. More facilities in Anambra (100.0%) than Oyo (40.0%) had a poor treatment success rate (p<0.001), as did more private/FBO (100.0%) than public health facilities (60.0%) (p=0.009). All tertiary facilities had a poor treatment success rate followed by 87.5% of secondary health facilities and 56.5% of primary healthcare facilities (P=0.035). Treatment success and cure rates in Anambra state were below the 85.0% of the recommended target set by the WHO. Geographical location, and level/tier and type of facility were factors associated with this. Interventions are recommended to address these problems.

Impact of ambulatory antimicrobial stewardship on prescribing patterns for urinary tract infections.

Currently, there are limited data on ambulatory antimicrobial stewardship (AAMS) programmes in the primary care setting. The purpose of this study was to implement a pharmacist-led AAMS programme for uncomplicated cystitis (UC) and pyelonephritis in a hospital-based family medicine residency clinic. A retrospective cohort study was used to assess clinician prescribing habits and identify areas of inappropriate prescribing. Females between 18 and 64years old diagnosed with UC or pyelonephritis were included in the analysis. The primary objective was a composite of appropriate choice of antibiotic based on first-line recommendations, appropriate dose and appropriate duration of therapy. The intervention included development of a guideline-based antibiotic treatment summary accessible in the electronic health record (EHR), clinician education sessions for medical residents and faculty, and treatment defaults in the EHR. Eighty-one patients were included in the pre-intervention group and 81 in the post-intervention group. In the pre-intervention group, 37% of patients met the composite primary outcome vs. 71.6% in the post-intervention group (P<.001) for UC and pyelonephritis combined. This was primarily driven by improvement in appropriate duration of therapy for both diagnoses which increased from 44.4% to 84.0% (P<.001). A pharmacist-led AAMS programme significantly improved guideline-based treatment adherence for UC and pyelonephritis based on the composite of appropriate choice of antibiotic, appropriate dose and appropriate duration of therapy in a primary care family medicine setting.

Treatment outcome of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis patients on second line anti-tuberculosis dugs at tertiary care hospital at Himachal Pradesh, India

Background: MDR-TB treatment defaulter are potentially harmful to community as these can relapse and spread infection, developed resistance to second line anti tubercular drugs and may result in to extensive drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) and major challenges for successful outcome. Objective was to study treatment outcome of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis patients on second line anti-tuberculosis drugs at tertiary care hospital at Himachal Pradesh.Methods: It was prospective observational study carried out after approval from institutional ethics committee. A total 104 MDR/RR-TB case enrolled for study from November 2012 to October 2013. Data were collected in predesigned proforma and entered in to Microsoft excel worksheet 2007 and analyzed with the help of SPSS software version 17. Chi-square test was applied to find out the association between independent variable and outcome of MDR-TB and p&lt;0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Among all 104 patients initiated on treatment 73.07% patients were alive, completed intensive phase and switch to continuation phase of treatment, 14.42% patients were died, 5.76% defaulted, 0.96% patient was transferred out and 5.76% patients were turned out XDR-TB and switched to regimen of XDR-TB treatment.Conclusions: Treatment and control of MDR-TB require sound infrastructure and well equipped laboratory facilities to provide quality and prompt diagnosis. Lack of knowledge, awareness, long duration of treatment and defaulters are major challenges for successful outcome.

Factors associated with non-completion of latent tuberculosis infection treatment in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: A non-matched case control study

IntroductionThere are scarce data on the routine latent tuberculosis infection treatment (LTBIT) and factors associated with a non-completion in high tuberculosis burden countries. Therefore, in this study we aimed to evaluate the factors associated with non-completion of LTBIT. Materials and methodsThis was a non-matched case control study conducted at a University Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A total of 114 cases and 404 controls were enrolled between January/1999 and December/2009. Cases were close contacts who did not complete the LTBIT and controls were the contacts that completed it. Multivariate analysis was used to investigate risk factors associated with non-completion of LTBIT among contacts in two different periods of recruitment. ResultsFactors associated with non-completion LTBIT included: drug use (OR 23.33, 95% CI 1.83–296.1), TB treatment default by the index case (OR 16.97, 95% CI 3.63–79.24) and drug intolerance. TB disease rates after two years of follow up varied from 0.4% to 1.9%. The number necessary to treat to prevent one TB case among contacts was 116. ConclusionsNon-completion treatment by the index case and illicit drug use were associated with not completing latent tuberculosis infection treatment and no tuberculosis disease was identified among those who completed latent tuberculosis infection treatment.

1478-P: Having Prediabetes before the Detection of Tuberculosis: Does It Have a Negative Influence on Treatment?

Aim: Coexistence of DM and TB influences TB treatment outcomes. TB increases hyperglycaemia due to inflammatory response. Effect of prediabetes (PDM) on TB treatment outcomes is unknown. The aim was to assess the effect of PDM on treatment outcomes after TB treatment. Methods: This is a prospective observational cohort study (EDOTS - part of RePORT India Consortium) of 569 eligible New smear positive cases screened for DM between 2014 to 2018 in TB units in North Chennai, South India. Out of 569 subjects, 179 with a known history of DM were excluded.The remaining 390 screened TB subjects, 120 were excluded based on culture results and unwillingness to participate in the study. HbA1c was assessed at baseline and categorised into two groups (Gp): normoglycaemia (Gp1) (&amp;lt;5.7%) and PDM (Gp 2) (5.7 to 6.4%) and followed them at 3rd and 6th month and treatment outcomes were assessed at the end of the TB treatment. Results: Prevalence of Prediabetes was 41.1%. There was no significant difference in the treatment outcomes between the groups(p=0.54). Total cure rate was 72.7% with no significant difference between the groups. There was a higher proportion of treatment failures (7.9%) amongGp1 as compared to Gp 2 (4.5%) (p = 0.33). There were 15.8 vs. 17.1% treatment defaulters. Higher proportion of deaths occurred during the course of DOTS in Gp 2 (7.2%) compared to Gp 1 (1.3%) (p = 0.06). At the end of intensive phase of DOTS treatment, about 23.8 % were observed to have positive sputum smear in Gp 2 compared to 8.6% in Gp 1 (p=0.019). The estimated relative risk to remain as sputum smear positive among prediabetes at the end of intensive phase was 3.0 (95% CI: 1.2-7.6). Conclusion: Higher prevalence of prediabetes was evident among TB patients. Among those who had prediabetes, death rate was higher during the course of the treatment and higher proportion remained sputum smear positive at the end of the intensive phase of TB treatment. Disclosure V. Viswanathan: None. A. Devarajan: None. S. Kumpatla: None. M. Dhanasekaran: None. S. Babu: None. H. Kornfeld: None. Funding Government of India (BT/MB/INDO-US/REPORT/03/2013-140)

Modelling the potential impact of adherence technologies on tuberculosis in India.

BACKGROUND: For patients taking standard first-line tuberculosis treatment, missing 10% or more of their doses increases the risk of relapse six-fold. Digital technologies offer new approaches to adherence support for TB patients. We estimated the potential impact of new adherence technologies in India.METHOD: We developed a mathematical model of TB transmission dynamics in India, capturing the independent effects of missed doses and treatment default on post-treatment recurrence. We simulated the impact of interventions to address both missed doses and treatment default in the public and private healthcare sector.RESULTS: Adherence interventions, if deployed optimally in the public sector alone, would reduce cumulative TB incidence by 7.3% (95% credible intervals [CrI] 4.7-11) between 2020 and 2030, and by 16% (95% CrI 11-23) if also deployed in the private sector. This impact is roughly proportional to the effectiveness of the interventions. Reducing missed doses reduced incidence by 12% (95% CrI 7.0-18), while reducing treatment default reduced incidence by 7.9% (95% CrI 3.2-13).CONCLUSION: Minimising missed doses is at least as important as promoting treatment completion. Our results suggest that emerging technologies to improve treatment adherence could have a substantial impact on TB incidence and mortality in India.

Mobile health to improve adherence to tuberculosis treatment in Khartoum state, Sudan.

Although tuberculosis is a treatable disease, the high frequency of treatment default remains a challenge. The use of mobile phones structurally in a TB program has the potential to lower the frequency of default. However, it’s impact on treatment outcome in Sudan has not yet been evaluated. The aim is to evaluate the potential use of cell phones for lowering treatment default. We conducted a controlled intervention pilot study during the period from 1st of May 2017 to 31st of March 2018, in eight TB treatment units in Khartoum state, Sudan. Newly diagnosed patient with positive sputum smear on DOTS therapy were enrolled in intervention and control groups. SMS reminder were sent to the intervention group.Assessments were done at the beginning and at the end of the treatment. One hundred and forty-eight patients were enrolled, seventy-four patients in each group.The participants in the two groups were similar in demographic characteristics and behavioral and knowledge related factors about TB disease at baseline. The patients in the intervention group had a lower default rate (6.8%), higher documented cure rate (78.4%), better knowledge compared to control group. SMS reminder was useful and facilitated good interaction between patients and health personnel. Mobile texting seemed useful and was highly accepted by participants. Further evaluation of it’s potential benefit was warranted.

Adverse drug reactions in patients taking anti tuberculosis therapy from directly observed treatment short course centre at Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences, Mandya: a cross sectional study

Background: Ending the tuberculosis (TB) epidemic by 2030 is among the health targets of the sustainable development goals. Side effects to anti-TB drugs are common and may lead to reduced compliance to treatment. These adverse effects must be recognized early to reduce associated morbidity and mortality. Objective of this study was to determine the adverse drug reactions (ADR) to anti-tubercular therapy among patients visiting directly observed treatment, short-course (DOTS) centre MIMS, Mandya.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted at DOTS Centre MIMS, Mandya. TB patients registered at DOTS Centre during the year 2018 were selected for the study. Verbal informed consent was taken from the TB patients and interviewed using pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and chi square test.Results: Among the study population (n=90), 67 (74.4%) experienced ADR among which 47.7% took treatment for ADR and the remaining 52.3% patients were given reassurance. In this study, gastrointestinal manifestations (42.3%) were the most common adverse drug reaction (ADR). Of the TB patients who experienced ADR, 9.0% of them had interrupted ATT, however they completed full course of ATT.Conclusions: A considerable number of TB patients taking ATT experience ADRs and some of them may have to interrupt treatment. However, they need to be counselled or supervised with caution to complete their course of treatment to reduce the chances of treatment default and also reduce the occurrence of drug resistance.

Profile of Defaulters and Pattern of Treatment Default among Leprosy Patients at a Tertiary Care Hospital: A 10-Year Analysis.

Background:The focus of leprosy control programs worldwide today is the WHO multidrug therapy which adequately cures the disease. Incomplete treatment puts not only the patient but the entire community at risk which may further jeopardize the leprosy control program.Objective:To study the magnitude of treatment default among leprosy patients, its trend in the last 10 years, and association with clinicodemographic variables.Materials and Methods:This was a retrospective study conducted at the urban leprosy center (ULC) attached to the dermatology department of a tertiary care centre. Data were obtained from the standard leprosy cards maintained at ULC from 2005–14. The following data were collected from the preformatted cards: age, gender, residence, occupation, type of leprosy, treatment, time of default, and so on and analyzed to see the association of defaulter status with sociodemographic and disease-related variables.Results:In a total of 743 cases, the rate of treatment default was 39.3%. The default status was found to have decreased significantly over the years from 2005–14 (P = 0.03). Majority of the treatment defaulters were migrants (47.9%) as compared with natives (29.7%) (P < 0.001). Regardless of the residential status, treatment default was more in pure neuritic (58.5%) and tuberculoid type (40.7%) as compared with others (P < 0.001). Smear negative cases (40.0%) were more likely to default than smear-positive cases (31.4%) (P < 0.001). Rate of defaulting was more among patients in the district where ULC was located than in the districts away from ULC (P = 0.017).Conclusion:Though the study period witnessed an overall decreasing trend over the 10-year period, treatment default remains a major concern in leprosy. Adherence to treatment is central to the success of leprosy control programs and therefore the factors associated with defaulting from treatment need to be addressed.

The DermLep Study I: Results of Prospective Nation-Wide Survey of the Number & Profile of Leprosy Patients seen by Dermatologists in India.

Introduction:There is evidence to suggest that there is a mismatch between the number of reported cases of leprosy in India and the number of actual cases in the country. One reason could be that many patients are diagnosed and treated outside the NLEP network and dermatologists may be managing some of these patients not captured by official statistics. To estimate these missing numbers, the DermLep survey was carried out to study the number and profile of leprosy patients seen by dermatologists and their significance.Methodology:The DermLep survey was a questionnaire-based study to be filled in by participating dermatologists from all over India, both in private practice and in medical institutions. Participating dermatologists provided information on old and new leprosy patients seen in their clinic over a 3-month period.Results:Total of 201 dermatologists from 20 states of India participated in the survey. 3701 leprosy patients (M: F ratio 2.1:1) were seen. Of them 46.62% (n = 1680) were new; 22.89% (n = 825) were under-treatment; and 19.65% (n = 708) were post RFT patients. Children <15 years constituted 4.29%, while elderly >60 years were 22.21%. As per WHO classification, MB were 73.36% and PB 28.46%. Of all patients 30.91% had lepra reactions, with T2R being more frequent. While 23.58% of all patients in the survey had G2D; in new patients 17.79%; and in post RFT patients 37% had G2D. Among the 1680 new cases seen, 59% were reported to NLEP by the dermatologists and 41% remained unreported mainly by the private dermatologists, among whom for 20% of the cases they mentioned “no access to register”. Source of MDT was WHO-MDT in 60.09% of new cases and for rest of 39.91% it was private pharmacies where private dermatologists had no access to MDT blister packs.Conclusion:This survey suggests that a good number of new-untreated leprosy patients, treatment defaulters and post RFT cases are managed by dermatologists in India. About 40% of the new patients managed mainly by private dermatologists are not being reported to NLEP for various reasons, and these constitute the “missing numbers” from government statistics. If extrapolated to the large of number of practicing dermatologists in India, these numbers could be very significant. The high percentage of G2D noted in patients surveyed (23.58%) and post RFT patient issues observed need special attention. There is a need to develop access for dermatologists to confidentially report leprosy patients treated at their clinics to the NLEP.

Study of defaulters amongst pulmonary tuberculosis patients attending DOTS centre in urban area of Ghaziabad district

Objectives: to determine the default rate among above Tuberculosis patients under DOTS and to elicit reasons of treatment default in the above tuberculosis patients. Setting: The study was carried out in selected DOTS centers of district Ghaziabad. Sampling: Multistage sampling. Study period: May 2014 to April 2015.

Trend and determinants of tuberculosis treatment outcome in a tertiary hospital in Southeast Nigeria

IntroductionNigeria ranked 7th among the high TB burden nations globally and second most endemic in Africa. There are several highly effective interventions available for tuberculosis control. Operational challenges have been reported to interfere with the success of these interventions. This review was conducted to ascertain the treatment outcome using the Directly Observed Short Course Strategy implemented in the hospital. MethodsA retrospective review of the Tuberculosis treatment was conducted in former Ebonyi State Teaching Hospital and Federal Teaching Hospital from 2008 to 2014 as part of the departmental critique of patients’ clinical care and tuberculosis control activities. Using the facility’s TB treatment register, information on the patient’s demography, clinical characteristics and treatment outcome was extracted. The data were analyzed using Epi Info version 7.2. Frequencies and proportions were calculated. ResultsA total of 1070 cases were reviewed with majority 491 (45.9%) belonging to 25–44 years age group. There were 585 (54.7%) males and 68 (11.6%) paediatrics. Pulmonary tuberculosis (667, 62.3%) was the most common presentation. Among those that did sputum smear AFB, 53.2% were smear negative. In all, 91.2% of the cases were treatment naïve, 59.1% were HIV negative at beginning of their treatment while 8% had unknown HIV status. Of the treatment outcome, 40.5% were classified as treatment completed, 16.0% cured, 17.4% of the cases defaulted while 14.1% of the cases died on treatment. These patients were often referred from primary and secondary level hospitals. ConclusionsThe cure rate was very poor and treatment default rate high. The high default rate could be due to the referral nature of the hospital. The treatment success rate of 56.5% is still far below the national target of 85% treatment success rate for effective tuberculosis control. An operational research is recommended to elicit the root causes of low treatment success rate and high patient default rate.

Geographic and socioeconomic factors associated with leprosy treatment default: An analysis from the 100 Million Brazilian Cohort.

BackgroundAlthough leprosy is largely curable with multidrug therapy, incomplete treatment limits therapeutic effectiveness and is an important obstacle to disease control. To inform efforts to improve treatment completion rates, we aimed to identify the geographic and socioeconomic factors associated with leprosy treatment default in Brazil.Methodology/Principal findingsUsing individual participant data collected in the Brazilian national registries for social programs and notifiable diseases and linked as part of the 100 Million Brazilian Cohort, we evaluated the odds of treatment default among 20,063 leprosy cases diagnosed and followed up between 2007 and 2014. We investigated geographic and socioeconomic risk factors using a multivariate hierarchical analysis and carried out additional stratified analyses by leprosy subtype and geographic region. Over the duration of follow-up, 1,011 (5.0%) leprosy cases were observed to default from treatment. Treatment default was markedly increased among leprosy cases residing in the North (OR = 1.57; 95%CI 1.25–1.97) and Northeast (OR = 1.44; 95%CI 1.17–1.78) regions of Brazil. The odds of default were also higher among cases with black ethnicity (OR = 1.29; 95%CI 1.01–1.69), no income (OR = 1.41; 95%CI 1.07–1.86), familial income ≤ 0.25 times Brazilian minimum wage (OR = 1.42; 95%CI 1.13–1.77), informal home lighting/no electricity supply (OR = 1.53; 95%CI 1.28–1.82), and household density of > 1 individual per room (OR = 1.35; 95%CI 1.10–1.66).ConclusionsThe findings of the study indicate that the frequency of leprosy treatment default varies regionally in Brazil and provide new evidence that adverse socioeconomic conditions may represent important barriers to leprosy treatment completion. These findings suggest that interventions to address socioeconomic deprivation, along with continued efforts to improve access to care, have the potential to improve leprosy treatment outcomes and disease control.

Timing of treatment interruption among latently infected tuberculosis cases treated with a nine-month course of daily isoniazid: findings from a time to event analysis

BackgroundTreatment of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in high-risk groups is an effective strategy for TB control and elimination in low incidence settings. A nine-month course of daily isoniazid (INH) has been the longest prescribed therapy; however, completion rates are suboptimal. We need data to guide TB program outreach efforts to optimize LTBI treatment completion rates.MethodsWe pooled seven (2009–2015) years of LTBI treatment outcome data. We computed the probability of INH treatment disruption over time by patient demographic and clinical risk factors. We used log-rank tests and Cox proportional hazards models to assess the risk factors for treatment disruption.ResultsWe analyzed data from 12,495 persons with complete data on INH treatment initiation. Pediatric cases (0–17 years), recent contacts of active TB patients, and non-U.S.-born adults living in the United States ≤5 years represented 25.2, 13.0, and 59.2% of the study population, respectively. Overall, 48.4% failed to complete therapy. The median treatment duration was 306 days (95% CI: 297, 315). A significant drop in adherence could be observed around day 30 of treatment initiation. Indeed, by day 30 of treatment, 17.0% (95% CI: 16.4, 17.7) of patients had defaulted on therapy. Pediatric patients (HR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.78, 0.89), recent contacts (HR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.68, 0.81), patients with diabetes (HR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.60, 0.98), and patients with HIV (HR = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.30, 0.51) had a lower risk of treatment default. However, black patients (HR = 1.57, 95% CI: 1.44, 1.70), Hispanic patients (HR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.43, 1.66), and non-U.S.-born persons living in the United States ≤5 years (HR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.18, 1.32) were significantly more likely to default on therapy.ConclusionsIn this analysis of INH treatment outcome, we see high levels of treatment discontinuation. On average, patients defaulted on their prescribed nine-month daily INH therapy within 30 days of initiating treatment, and those at increased risk of progression to active disease were most likely to do so. We highlight the need to introduce patient-centered programs to increase treatment adherence in this population.

Thyrotoxicosis, Etiology, Presentation and Management Challenges in Nigeria: A Review of Cases Seen Over a 5 Year Period

Background: Thyrotoxicosis is a common endocrine disorder worldwide with a female predominance. Graves disease is reported as the commonest cause of thyrotoxicosis by various authors in the Africa region. Aims and Objectives: The study evaluated patient characteristics, clinical and laboratory profile, co-morbidities, treatment modalities, response to therapy, side effects of anti-thyroid medications, treatment outcome and complications of the disease in patients with thyrotoxicosis. Materials and methods: This study was retrospective and observational. The records of patients diagnosed with overt thyrotoxicosis seen in the Endocrine unit (2013-2017) were pulled and relevant data compiled. Data was analyzed using SPSS V 21. Results: A total of 172 cases were studied; 33 males and 132 females (ratio 1:4). They were aged 18-70; 40.2 ±12.5 years. Graves Disease constituted 79 % 0f cases and toxic multinodular goiter made up 18%. Seven cases of Marine Lenhart syndrome were identified. Graves orbitopathy occurred in 54%, but was mild. All but 6 patients received anti-thyroid medication as initial therapy mainly carbimazole (90%). About 6% had thyroidectomy. Treatment default was high (52%), while 15% remitted and 19% relapsed. Total duration of illness was 1- 380, 40.7 ± 52.6 months. Drug rash occurred in 5% and cholestatic hepatitis in 1.8%. Hypertension coexisted in 35%. Six pregnancies were recorded, four of which ended in miscarriages, two of which had thyroid storm. Heart disease complicated the disease in 36%. Conclusion: Thyrotoxicosis is a common clinical condition. Treatment with carbimazole is effective. However the treatment default rate was very high. Coexisting hypertension and pronlonged period of untreated disease exposed patients to a high burden of heart disease. Patient education and introduction of radioablation therapy will mitigate these challenges.

What works best for ensuring treatment adherence. Lessons from a social support program for people treated for tuberculosis in Ukraine.

Worldwide, TB is one of the top 10 causes of death and the leading cause from a single infectious agent. Ukraine is one of 30 countries with the highest burden of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Global literature shows that social support (SS) is important in improving TB treatment adherence, reducing lost to follow up rates and improving treatment outcomes. There are several models of SS available, and the literature provides little information on what aspects of SS are most important to TB patients in improving their adherence. We used qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews (IDI) with 21 TB patients and 15 SS providers and coordinators in Ukraine in August-September 2016 to understand how the SS program promoted treatment adherence among patients. We examined the aspects of outpatient TB treatment that made adherence particularly difficult for patients in at-risk groups and aspects of the SS programs that worked best for addressing those barriers. Interviews were transcribed and analysis was performed to derive emergent themes. Main barriers included side effects from medicine, the amount of time required daily for transportation and waiting in lines at the health facility, transportation expenses, risks of being identified when visiting a TB facility and lack of motivation to seek treatment. Features of the SS program most valued by patients were convenience of not having to visit facility and support provided by nurses. These two features directly addressed most of the barriers identified. The commitment and qualities of the nurses that provided the SS was an important element of the program. This qualitative study suggests that the SS program in Ukraine was successful in reducing treatment default among patients at high risk of default because it directly addressed most of the major barriers they faced to treatment adherence.