Sputum examination at 2-months into continuation phase - How much does it contribute to define treatment outcome.

ABSTRACT

Objective: To assess the usefulness of sputum examination at 2-months into Continuation Phase (CP) to declare treatment outcome. Methodology: It is a retrospective study conducted in one tuberculosis unit, Tiruvallur district of Tamilnadu among smear positive patients treated with Category I and Category II regimens from May, 1999 – December, 2003. Results: Sputum was collected at 2-months into CP from 70% of 1551 Category I and 74% of 292 Category II patients declared cure, failed or treatment completed. Result at 2-months CP was used for giving outcome in 112 (10.3%) of 1088 Category I patients and 37 (17%) of 217 Category II patients. Conclusion: In practice, sputum needs to be collected for 7.8% of the patients with smear positive at the end of Intensive Phase. By doing so, there will be a delay of 1 month for 3.6% of the patients in declaring ‘failure’. By deferring the sputum examination at 2 months into CP, workload of laboratory technicians can be reduced by about 30%.