Diagnostic and treatment outcomes of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in the first year of COVID-19 pandemic.
East Mediterr Health J
; 28(9): 682-689, 2022 Sep 29.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2067574
ABSTRACT
Background:
The COVID-19 pandemic has put a significant strain on human life and health care systems, however, little is known about its impact on tuberculosis (TB) patients.Aims:
To assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) diagnosis, treatment and patient outcomes, using the WHO definitions.Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted in Malatya region, Turkey (population 800 000). Data on regional PTB test numbers, case notification rates and PTB patients' clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes were collected. Data from the first pandemic year (2020) were compared to data from the previous 3 years (2017-2019). The attitudes and experiences of patients were analysed.Results:
Despite a non-significant 22% decrease in annual PTB case notifications (P = 0.317), the number of TB tests performed (P = 0.001) and PTB patients evaluated (P = 0.001) decreased significantly during the pandemic year compared with the previous 3 years. The proportion of patients with high (3/4+) sputum acid-fast bacilli grades (P = 0.001), TB relapse (P = 0.022) and treatment failure (P = 0.018) increased significantly. The median 64.5-day treatment delay detected in 2017-2019 increased significantly to 113.5 days in 2020 (P = 0.001), due primarily to patients' reluctance to visit a health care facility.Conclusion:
In addition to the problems with case detection, this study shows notable deterioration in several indicators related to the severity, contagiousness and poor outcomes of TB, which had already been suppressed for decades.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Tuberculosis, Pulmonary
/
COVID-19
/
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
East Mediterr Health J
Journal subject:
Medicine
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Emhj.22.060
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