Mortality among tuberculosis patients under DOTS programme: a historical cohort study

Survival Rate and Predictors of Mortality Among TB-HIV Co-Infected Patients During Tuberculosis Treatment at Public Health Facilities in Bahir Dar City, Northwest Ethiopia

Background

Tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus co-infection pose a major public health concern, particularly in developing countries. The survival and predictors of mortality were not sufficiently studied among TB-HIV co-infected patients in Ethiopia.

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the survival rate and predictors of mortality among TB-HIV co-infected patients during TB treatment at public health facilities in Bahir Dar, Northwest Ethiopia.

Methods

A retrospective follow-up study was conducted among 401 TB-HIV co-infected patients who were treated for tuberculosis between July 2018 and June 2022 at public health facilities in Bahir Dar city, Ethiopia. Data were collected using a structured checklist from patient charts. Data entry and analysis were done using EpiData 3.1 and Stata version 15, respectively. A Cox proportional Hazard regression model was used to identify predictors of mortality. Predictors with P < 0.05 in the multivariable regression were considered statistically significant.

Results

Among the 401 TB-HIV co-infected patients, 59 (14.7%) died during the follow-up period. Predictors like lower BMI (AHR = 3.00, 95% CI = 1.44, 6.28), extrapulmonary TB infection (AHR = 3.30, 95% CI = 1.50, 7.29), presence of opportunistic infection (AHR = 5.07, 95% CI = 2.55, 10.08), functional status (bedridden: AHR = 4.49, 95% CI = 1.63, 12.33), and adherence to TB treatment (fair = AHR = 2.74, 95% CI = 1.41, 7.20, and poor = AHR = 3.75, 95% CI = 1.52, 9.23) were associated with mortality.

Conclusion

Mortality among TB and HIV coinfected people was high at public health facilities in Bahir Dar city. This result suggested that in order to increase patient survival, it would be necessary to enhance nutritional status, increase adherence to TB treatment, and prevent opportunistic infections.

Mortality among persons receiving tuberculosis treatment in Itezhi-Tezhi District of Zambia: A retrospective cohort study

Itezhi-Tezhi District in southern Zambia has been reporting tuberculosis (TB) mortality rates that are fourfold higher than the national average of six percent. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to establish the demographic and clinical characteristics associated with mortality among persons under treatment for TB in Itezhi-Tezhi District, as well as the likely causes and time to death. We reviewed medical records for persons with TB registered in 19 public health facilities in Itezhi-Tezhi District between January 2015 and December 2018. Of the 506 persons with TB registered in the study period, 426 were included in the analysis. Of these, 71 (16.7%) died before completing treatment. The overall mortality rate was 31.8 per 1,000 person-months of observation. Most of the deaths (53 [74.7%]) occurred in the first month of treatment (median: 16 days; interquartile range: 5-52 days). In a multivariate Cox regression model, type of TB was found to be an independent predictor of mortality while on TB treatment. The risk of dying was more than twice higher for persons with clinically diagnosed PTB compared to those with bacteriologically confirmed PTB (adjusted hazard ratio = 2.2, 95% CI: 1.4-3.6). In a sub-analysis of persons with clinically diagnosed PTB, persons with TB who were on a community-based DOT plan were more than twice more likely to die compared to those on facility-based DOT plan (adjusted hazard ratio = 2.21, 95% CI: 1.1-4.8). Common likely causes of death were pulmonary TB disease (66.0%), anemia (12.8%), cardiac failure (4.3%), pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (4.3%), and gastroenteritis (4.2%). These findings show that most deaths occurred during the first month of treatment. Clinical evaluation at initiation of anti-TB treatment and during follow-up care, especially in persons with clinically diagnosed PTB, should include screening and treatment of other conditions.

Survival rate and predictors of mortality among TB/HIV co-infected adult patients: retrospective cohort study

Nowadays, Tuberculosis remains the major cause of HIV-associated mortality, which accounts for 1 out of every 5 HIV-related mortality worldwide. This study aimed to determine the survival rate and predictors of mortality among TB/HIV co-infected patients. An institution-based retrospective cohort study was undertaken on adult TB/HIV co-infected individuals between 1st February 2014 and 30th January 2022 at Mettu Karl Referral Hospital. A Cox regression model was used to identify predictors of survival time to death among TB/HIV co-infected patients. This study comprised 402 TB and HIV co-infected adult patients. Among these, 84 (20.9%) died, and 318 (79.1%) were censored. The study subjects have been followed up for 6920 person-months with an overall median survival time of 17.6 months. The overall incidence rate was 12.1 per 1000 person months [95% CI: 9.77-14.98]. The results of a multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that being at an older age, urban residence, WHO clinical stage II & IV, CD4 count of ≥ 200 cells/mm³, bedridden functional status, using INH, and using CPT were associated with the survival time of TB and HIV co-infected patients at a significance level of alpha = 0.05. This retrospective study found that high mortality of TB/HIV co-infected patients occurred in the earlier months of treatment initiation. Close monitoring of patients with low CD4, who do not utilize CPT, who are in advanced WHO stages, and who have poor functional levels can help them improve their health and live longer.

Mortality and associated factors among adult patients on tuberculosis treatment in Tanzania: A retrospective cohort study

INTRODUCTION

Tuberculosis (TB) is the global leading cause of death from an infectious agent. Tanzania is among the 30 high TB burden countries with a mortality rate of 47 per 100,000 population and a case fatality of 4%. This study assessed mortality rate, survival probabilities, and factors associated with death among adult TB patients on TB treatment in Tanzania.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study was conducted utilizing case-based national TB program data of adult (≥15 years) TB cases enrolled on TB treatment from January 2017 to December 2017. We determined survival probabilities using the Kaplan-Meier estimator and a Cox proportional hazard model was used to identify independent risk factors of TB mortality. Hazard ratios and their respective 95% confidence intervals were reported.

RESULTS

Of 53,753 adult TB patients, 1927 (3.6%) died during TB treatment and the crude mortality rate was 6.31 per 1000 person-months. Male accounted for 33,297 (61.9%) of the study population and the median (interquartile range [IQR]) age was 40 (30-53) years. More than half 1027 (56.7%) of deaths occurred in first two months of treatment. Overall survival probabilities were 96%, and 92% at 6th and 12th month respectively. The independent risk factors for TB mortality among TB patients included: advanced age ≥ 45 years (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 1.74, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.45-2.08); receiving service at the hospital level (aHR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.09-1.36); TB/HIV co-infection (aHR = 2.51, 95% CI = 2.26-2.79); facility-based direct observed therapy (DOT) option (aHR = 2.23, 95% CI = 1.95-2.72); having bacteriological unconfirmed TB results (aHR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.42-1.76); and other referral type (aHR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.16-1.78).

CONCLUSION

Advanced age, TB/HIV co-infection, bacteriological unconfirmed TB results, other referral types, receiving service at facility-based DOT option and obtaining service at the hospital level were significant contributors to TB death in Tanzania. Appropriate targeted intervention to improve TB referral systems, improve diagnostic capacity in the primary health facilities, minimize delay and misdiagnosis of TB patients might reduce TB mortality.

Diagnostic implications and inpatient mortality related to tuberculosis at Jimma Medical Center, southwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the major public health problems in Ethiopia. Determining discharge outcome of TB cases helps to understand the effectiveness of TB diagnosis effort to improve case management. The objective of this study was to assess discharge outcomes and factors associated with death among patients on TB treatment admitted in a referral hospital in southwest Ethiopia.

METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted in Jimma Medical Center by reviewing medical records of TB patients (age ≥15 years) admitted to medical wards from January 2015 to December 2017. Demographic and related data was collected using data collection format. The clinical evaluation outcome of an individual patient at discharge was recorded. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize participant characteristics. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the risk factors for TB mortality.

RESULTS

Among 465 patients included in the review, 225 (48.4%) were pulmonary (PTB) and 240 (51.6%) extra-pulmonary TB (EPTB) cases. Overall, 190 (40.9%) had bacteriologically confirmed for TB. HIV status was documented for 340 (73.1%) of them; 93 (27.4%) were found to be positive. The prevalence of HIV infection among EPTB and PTB cases was 50/275 (18.2%) and 43/190 (22.8%), respectively. A quarter of the patient, 114 (24.5%), died in the hospital while the rest were discharged with clinical improvement. Compared to smear positive PTB, the risk of death was two times higher in patients with smear negative PTB cases (aOR 2.3, 95% CI: 1.3-4.2). TB patients with coronary obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (aOR 4.6, 95% CI: 1.3-16.7), diabetes mellitus (aOR 5.7, 95% CI: 1.5-23.7), heart disease (aOR 3.8, 95% CI: 1.4-10.4) had about four-fold increased risk of death. HIV-positive patients had a higher risk of mortality (aOR 2.9, 95% CI: 1.7-5.0) than HIV-negative patients. The risk of death was not affected by the type of TB diagnosed, as 27.6% of EPTB and 31.9% PTB were died (p = 0.457).

CONCLUSION

TB was associated with high inpatient mortality at Jimma Medical Center. Mortality was found to be higher among unconfirmed cases, those with COPD, diabetes mellitus, heart disease and HIV infection. Thus, any effort to curtail mortality in such high TB burden setting should focus on improving TB diagnosis and addressing major comorbid medical conditions.

Nutritional status and TB treatment outcomes in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: An ambi-directional cohort study

BACKGROUND

Remaining underweight during Tuberculosis (TB) treatment is associated with a higher risk of unsuccessful TB treatment outcomes and relapse. Previous studies conducted in Ethiopia found that bodyweight not adjusted for height at the start of treatment is associated with poor treatment outcomes. However, the association of body mass index (BMI) and weight change during treatment with treatment outcomes has not been studied. We aimed to investigate the association of BMI at the time of diagnosis and after two months of treatment and TB treatment outcomes.

METHODS

Using an ambi-directional cohort study design (retrospective and prospective), a total of 456 participants were enrolled among 30 randomly selected public health centers residing within six sub-cities of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Data were collected using medical chart abstraction and face to face interviews. We compared TB treatment outcomes in persons with a body mass index (BMI) <18.5kg/m2 (underweight) versus persons with BMI ≥18.5kg/m2 (normal or overweight) at treatment initiation and after two months of treatment. Treatment was classified as successful in persons who were free of symptoms and had a negative sputum smear for acid-fast bacilli at the end of the 6-month treatment course. We analysed outcomes using univariable and multivariable logistic regression with 95% CI and p value< 0.05.

RESULTS

Of enrolled study participants, 184 (40.4%) were underweight and 272 (59.6%) were normal or overweight. Body mass index (BMI ≥18.5kg/m2) at the start and second month of treatment were independent predictors for successful treatment outcome (AOR = 2.15; 95% CI: 1.05, 4.39) and (AOR = 3.55; 95% CI: 1.29, 9.73), respectively. The probability of treatment success among patients with BMI≥18.5kg/m2 at the start and second month of treatment was 92.9% and 97.1%, respectively versus 86.5% and 91.7% in patients with BMI<18.5kg/m2. Bodyweight not adjusted for height and change in the bodyweight after the second and sixth months of treatment were not significantly associated with treatment success.

CONCLUSION

In persons treated for TB disease, being underweight at baseline and after two months of treatment was a predictor for unsuccessful treatment outcomes. Nutritional assessment, counselling, and management are important components of TB treatment programs with the potential to improve treatment outcomes.

Impact of HIV status and predictors of successful treatment outcomes among tuberculosis patients: A six-year retrospective cohort study

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global public health problem. Hence, the study aimed to assess the impact of human immune virus (HIV) status and predictors of successful treatment outcomes of TB patients enrolled at Nekemte specialized hospital. An institution-based retrospective cohort study was conducted and the data analyzed using SPSS version 24.0. A multivariable logistic regression model was fitted to identify the association between treatment outcome and potential predictor variables. The association was calculated using the Adjusted Odds ratio (AOR) and the statistical significance was considered at p < 0.05. Out of the total 506 study participants, 50.2% of them were males. The overall treatment success rate was 81.4% and 58.06% among HIV co-infected TB patients. Female sex (AOR = 2.01, 95%CI: 1.04–16.11), age 25–34 years (AOR = 3.982, 95%CI: 1.445–10.971), age 35–49 years (AOR = 5.392, 95%CI: 1.674–17.368), high school educational level (AOR = 5.330, 95% CI: 1.753–16.209), urban residence (AOR = 3.093, 95%CI: 1.003–9.541) and HIV negative (AOR = 10.3, 95%CI, 3.216–32.968) were positively associated with favorable TB treatment outcome. Whereas, being single (AOR = 0.293, 95%CI: 0.1–0.854), smear-negative pulmonary TB (AOR = 0.360, 95%CI: 0.156–0.834), extra-pulmonary TB (AOR = 0.839, 95%CI: 0.560–0.955) and retreatment case (AOR: 0.54, 95%CI: 0.004–0.098) were negatively associated with successful treatment outcome. The treatment success rate of TB patients was lower than World Health Organization target set of 85%. The increased unsuccessful outcome among TB/HIV patients requires urgent public health interventions to improve the evaluation policy and control framework.

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Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global public health problem.

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TB is the leading cause of death for HIV-infected patients, and HIV is also risk factor for developing active TB.

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The co-infection has emerged as a major public health threat throughout the world and have worse treatment outcomes.

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Management of co-infected patients can be complex because of overlapping drug toxicities and interactions.

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The increased unsuccessful outcome among TB/HIV patients requires urgent public health interventions.

Modeling the Survival of Tuberculosis Patients in Eastern Zone of Tigray Regional State

Background

Tuberculosis (TB) is still a public health problem and amongst the top ten leading causes of death. The aim of this paper was to identify the factors that significantly affect the survival of tuberculosis patients.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study was carried out in Adigrat General and Wukro hospitals, Eastern Zone of Tigray region, Ethiopia. Data for this study were obtained from medical records of all TB cases registered from September 2016 to August 2017 in the two hospitals. Log-rank test and Kaplan–Meier plot were used to evaluate the survival pattern of TB patients. A multivariable Cox proportional regression model was employed to identify the predictors of mortality. Factors with a P-value smaller than 0.05 were taken as statistically significant facilitators of TB death.

Results

Of the 397 patients studied over the specified period, 23 (5.8%) had died. A statistically significant survival difference was observed among gender, residence, HIV status, treatment category, and age category of patients. In multivariable cox regression, lower survival rates were observed among patients aged ≥45 years (HR = 5.315, 95% CI: 1.231–22.959), relapse cases (HR = 4.069, 95% CI: 1.636–10.119), patients with extrapulmonary TB (HR = 3.054, 95% CI: 1.044–8.940), patients from rural areas (HR = 2.834, 95% CI: 1.161–6.916), patients with a bodyweight of ≤50 kg and HIV-positive patients.

Conclusion

Based on the survival experience of TB patients, advancing age, extrapulmonary TB infection, living in rural residence, lower bodyweight at beginning of treatment, HIV co-infection, and being a retreatment patient were predictors of mortality. To achieve the “End TB Strategy” goal of zero death, proper targeting of care to these vulnerable groups should be advised.

Treatment success and mortality among adults with tuberculosis in rural eastern Uganda: a retrospective cohort study

Background

Successful treatment of tuberculosis leads to clinical and public health benefits such as reduction in transmission, complications, and mortality among patients. However, data are limited on treatment outcomes and the associated factors among persons with bacteriologically confirmed pulmonary (BC-PTB) in rural areas of high dual tuberculosis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) burden countries such as Uganda. We investigated factors associated with successful treatment of tuberculosis and mortality among adult persons with BC-PTB in rural eastern Uganda.

Methods

We constructed a retrospective cohort of persons with BC-PTB from a routine tuberculosis clinic database in eastern Uganda. We performed bivariate and multivariate analysis. Using a 5% level of significance, we ran a modified Poisson regression analysis to determine factors independently associated with treatment success and mortality rates.

Results

We retrieved 1123 records for persons with BC-PTB and the treatment outcomes were distributed as follows: 477(42.5%) cured, 323 (28.0%) treatment completed, 17(1.5%) treatment failed, 81(7.2%) died, 89(7.9%) lost to follow-up, and 136(12.1%) not evaluated. Overall, 800 (81.1%) of the 987 persons with BC-PTB that had treatment outcome, were successfully treated. Successful treatment of tuberculosis was less likely to occur among those with HIV infection (Adjusted risk ratio (aRR), 0.88; 95% Confidence Interval (CI), 0.82–0.95), older than 50 years (aRR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.81–0.97), or male sex (aRR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.87–0.98). Mortality was associated with HIV infection (aRR, 4.48; 95% CI, 2.95–6.79), older than 50 years (aRR, 2.93; 95% CI, 1.74–4.92), year of enrollment into treatment after 2015 (aRR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.66–0.97), and Community-Based Directly Observed Therapy Short Course (aRR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.13–0.50).

Conclusions

Treatment success rate among adult persons with BC-PTB in rural eastern Uganda is suboptimal and mortality rate is high. HIV infection and older age reduce chances of treatment success, and increase mortality rate. Older and HIV infected persons with BC-PTB will require special consideration to optimize treatment success rate and reduce mortality rate.

Detection of risk clusters for deaths due to tuberculosis specifically in areas of southern Brazil where the disease was supposedly a non-problem

Background

Tuberculosis (TB) is the infectious disease that kills the most people worldwide. The use of geoepidemiological techniques to demonstrate the dynamics of the disease in vulnerable communities is essential for its control. Thus, this study aimed to identify risk clusters for TB deaths and their variation over time.

Methods

This ecological study considered cases of TB deaths in residents of Londrina, Brazil between 2008 and 2015. We used standard, isotonic scan statistics for the detection of spatial risk clusters. The Poisson discrete model was adopted with the high and low rates option used for 10, 30 and 50% of the population at risk, with circular format windows and 999 replications considered the maximum cluster size. Getis-Ord Gi* (Gi*) statistics were used to diagnose hotspot areas for TB mortality. Kernel density was used to identify whether the clusters changed over time.

Results

For the standard version, spatial risk clusters for 10, 30 and 50% of the exposed population were 4.9 (95% CI 2.6–9.4), 3.2 (95% CI: 2.1–5.7) and 3.2 (95% CI: 2.1–5.7), respectively. For the isotonic spatial statistics, the risk clusters for 10, 30 and 50% of the exposed population were 2.8 (95% CI: 1.5–5.1), 2.7 (95% CI: 1.6–4.4), 2.2 (95% CI: 1.4–3.9), respectively. All risk clusters were located in the eastern and northern regions of the municipality. Additionally, through Gi*, hotspot areas were identified in the eastern and western regions.

Conclusions

There were important risk areas for tuberculosis mortality in the eastern and northern regions of the municipality. Risk clusters for tuberculosis deaths were observed in areas where TB mortality was supposedly a non-problem. The isotonic and Gi* statistics were more sensitive for the detection of clusters in areas with a low number of cases; however, their applicability in public health is still restricted.

Time to death and risk factors among tuberculosis patients in Northern Ethiopia

OBJECTIVE

The main objective of this study was to assess time to death and associated risk factors among tuberculosis (TB) patients.

RESULTS

A total of 769 TB patients were studied and of those, 87 (11.3%) patients died. All of the deaths occurred within 7 months of anti-tuberculosis therapy. Extra-pulmonary TB (AHR = 17.376, 95% CI; 3.88-77.86, p < 0.001) as compared to pulmonary TB and cotrimoxazole prophylaxis therapy (CPT) (AHR = 0.15, 95% CI; 0.03-0.74, p = 0.02) were found to be the predictors of mortality. We noticed higher rates of mortality. Extra-pulmonary TB patients have high risk and TB-HIV co-infected patients who received CPT have low risk of death. Improving early diagnosis of extra-pulmonary TB and early CPT initiation of TB-HIV co-infected patients could minimize patient's mortality.