ABSTRACT
SETTING: One urban tertiary care and one rural secondary care hospital in Nigeria. OBJECTIVE: To compare the epidemiological characteristics and treatment outcomes of tuberculosis (TB) patients treated with an 8-month or 6-month anti-tuberculosis regimen in a low-resource setting. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. RESULTS: A total of 928 newly diagnosed smear-positive TB patients were treated with either daily ethambutol (EMB), isoniazid (INH), rifampicin (RMP) and pyrazinamide (PZA) for 2 months followed by EMB and INH for 6 months (2RHZE/6EH), or the same intensive phase as the first regimen followed by 4 months of daily RMP and INH (2RHZE/4RH). The proportion of successful outcomes was 381/490 (77.8%) with 2RHZE/6EH and 373/438 (85.2%) with 2RHZE/4RH (P = 0.004). Defaulting was significantly more frequent in patients who received 2RHZE/6EH (14.3% vs. 5.5%; P < 0.001). Treatment failure was not significantly higher in patients who received 2RHZE/6EH (2.9% vs. 1.6%; P = 0.15). After adjusting for confounders, older age (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.7), 2RHZE/6EH treatment (aOR 1.6) and male sex (aOR 1.5) independently predicted unsuccessful outcomes in human immunodeficiency virus negative TB patients. CONCLUSIONS: Newly diagnosed TB patients on 2RHZE/4RH have a higher treatment success rate than those treated with 2RHZE/6EH under programme conditions in a low-resource, high-burden setting. Current World Health Organization recommendations should be maintained.
Subject(s)
Antitubercular Agents/administration & dosage , Antitubercular Agents/therapeutic use , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/drug therapy , Adult , Ethambutol/administration & dosage , Ethambutol/therapeutic use , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Isoniazid/administration & dosage , Isoniazid/therapeutic use , Logistic Models , Male , Middle Aged , Multivariate Analysis , Nigeria , Pyrazinamide/administration & dosage , Pyrazinamide/therapeutic use , Retrospective Studies , Rifampin/administration & dosage , Rifampin/therapeutic use , Treatment Outcome , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/diagnosis , Young AdultABSTRACT
SUMMARY Globally, twice as many men as women are being diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) annually. Little is known about gender differentials in TB in Africa. A retrospective cohort analysis of routine data was conducted on adult TB patients treated between 2011 and 2012 in two large healthcare facilities in Nigeria. Gender differences in their demographic characteristics and treatment outcomes were analysed accordingly. Of 1668 TB patients enrolled, the male:female ratio was 1.4:1. The mean ages of males and females were 40.2 ± 14.7 and 36.1 ± 14.6 years, respectively (t test 6.62, P < 0.001). Male gender was associated with a higher failure to smear convert after 2 months (21.8% vs. 17.5%, P = 0.06) and 5 months (4.3% vs. 1.5%, P = 0.02) of treatment for smear-positive TB patients. Moreover, men were more likely than women to fail treatment (2.2% vs. 0.7%, P = 0.01). No significant differences exist in the treatment success rates between women and men (78.2% vs. 74.5%, P = 0.08). Adjusted analyses showed significant association between being an urban male and a HIV-infected female with unsuccessful outcome adjusted by socio-demographic and clinical factors. We found that gender disparities exist in TB profile and treatment outcomes in Nigeria and gender-specific strategies are needed to optimize TB management.
