ABSTRACT
Background: The objective of this retrospective study was to evaluate the outcome of directly observed therapy short course (DOTS) application in a Nigerian rural community.Methods: A retrospective study of all the records of DOTS at the centre from January 2001 to December 2005 was compiled and features such as: age; gender; drugs used; and outcome of treatment (defaulted; cured; died; or developed multidrug resistant-TB) were considered. Also the different personnel and infrastructure at the centre for the programme were also assessed. Results were analysed using Epi Info 6 statistical software; and P values 0.05 were considered significant. Results: Two hundred and seventy four (274) cases of pulmonary TB were registered at the centre during the study period; consisting of 100(36.5) females and 174(63.5) males with a statistically significant gender difference (P0.001). The age range with the highest number of pulmonary tuberculosis cases was 31-40 years (24.8; n=68); and the age range with the lowest number was 71 years and above (1.1; n=3). Treatment outcome showed that 84.7(n=232) completed treatment with cure; 2.5(n=7) developed multidrug resistance at completion of treatment; 5.5(n=15) defaulted; 3.3(n=9) died in the course of treatment; and treatment in 11 people was still ongoing. Conclusion: The outcome of DOTS in the present study was impressive; and the programme should be extended to other rural communities; however; more efforts should be made towards the tracing of defaulters