Tuberculosis Treatment Outcome in a Tertiary Hospital in South Eastern Nigeria; a Five Year Retrospective Study

Abstract

Tuberculosis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries of the world. Monitoring tuberculosis treatment outcomes is important in evaluating the effectiveness of tuberculosis control programme. This study investigated the outcome of tuberculosis treatment at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH) in South Eastern Nigeria. This a retrospective analysis of tuberculosis patients registered at COOUTH from January 2013 to January 2018. The secondary data was obtained from the facility central tuberculosis register, with treatment outcome and tuberculosis type categorized based on the guideline of National Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Buruli ulcer Control Programme (NTBLCP) of Nigeria. The association of treatment outcome with demographic characteristics and other clinical factors was analyzed using the Chi-square test. Out of the 578 tuberculosis patients, 74.2% were successfully treated, 18.9% were lost to follow up, 5.7% died and 0.3% had treatment failure. Outcome of tuberculosis treatment was significantly associated with age, site of disease and HIV status of patients. Tuberculosis treatment outcome in COOUTH was satisfactory. However, patients at risk of unsuccessful outcome should be identified promptly and granted appropriate support and follow-up.