Treatment Outcome Monitoring by Using Sputum Conversion Rate of Tuberculosis Patients in Pkd Kinta, Malaysia

Abstract

Introduction: A control programme termed Directly Observed Treatment Short-Course (DOTS) is adopted to promote early TB detection and effective TB treatment. An indicator of a successful DOTS programme is the Sputum Conversion Rate (SCR) which is obtained at the end of the two-month intensive treatment to measure the treatment outcome by SCR. The present study determined the association between several factors and the SCR among TB patients attending the DOTS clinic at the Kinta District Health Office (PKD Kinta) in 2017. Methods: The factors included are sociodemographic factors, physical factors, knowledge, attitude, and practice of TB patients. All groups of 150 sputum smear positive pulmonary TB patients enrolled for treatment at PKD Kinta between January and September 2017 were recruited for this study by the cross-sectional questionnaire method. A statistical analysis was performed to determine the association between the variables and the SCR of the TB patients in the DOTS programme. Results: At the end of the two-month intensive period, an SCR of 96.0% was obtained. According to the statistical analysis of the association among sociodemographic factors and SCR, there are no statistical differences between the variables. Similarly, no association was found between the physical characteristics and SCR in the current study. Conclusion: SCR methods are perfect methods used in regular medicine to monitor TB cases’ treatment. The identification of factors influencing the DOTS programme is critical to ensuring the program’s success in eradicating TB in society.