Comparing early treatment outcomes of MDR-TB in decentralised and centralised settings in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 2012;
16:209-15. [PMID:
22236922 DOI:
10.5588/ijtld.11.0401]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
SETTING
In KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, a setting endemic for tuberculosis (TB) and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), prolonged hospitalisation for the treatment of the growing number of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) patients is neither possible nor effective.
OBJECTIVE
To compare early treatment outcomes in patients with MDR-TB with and without HIV co-infection at four decentralised rural sites with a central urban referral hospital.
DESIGN
This is an operational, prospective cohort study of patients between 1 July 2008 and 30 November 2009, where culture conversion, time to culture conversion, survival and predictors of these outcomes were analysed.
RESULTS
Of 860 patients with MDR-TB, 419 were at the decentralised sites and 441 at the central hospital. Overall, 71% were HIV co-infected. In the 17-month study period, there was a higher proportion of culture conversion at the decentralised sites compared with the centralised hospital (54% vs. 24%, P < 0.001, OR 3.76, 95%CI 2.81-5.03). The median time to treatment initiation was significantly shorter at the decentralised sites compared with the centralised hospital (72 vs. 93 days, P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in survival following treatment initiation.
CONCLUSION
In this study, early treatment outcomes suggest that decentralised care for MDR-TB patients is superior to that in a centralised setting.
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