Extending contact screening within a 50-m radius of an index tuberculosis patient using Xpert MTB/RIF in urban Pakistan: Did it impact treatment outcomes?

Background: Pakistan implemented initiatives to detect tuberculosis (TB) patients through extended contact screening (ECS); it improved case detection but treatment outcomes need assessment.

Objectives: To compare treatment outcomes of pulmonary TB (PTB) patients detected by ECS with those detected by routine passive case finding (PCF).

Methods: A cohort study using secondary program data conducted in Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi districts and Islamabad in 2013-15. We used log binomial regression models to assess if ECS was associated with unfavorable treatment outcomes (death, loss-to-follow-up, failure, not evaluated) after adjusting for potential confounders.

Results: We included 79,431 people with PTB; 4604 (5.8%) were detected by ECS with 4052 (88%) bacteriologically confirmed. In all PTB patients the proportion with unfavorable outcomes was not significantly different in ECS group (9.6%) compared to PCF (9.9%), however, among bacteriologically confirmed patients unfavorable outcomes were significantly lower in ECS (9.9%) than PCF group (11.6%, P = 0.001). ECS was associated with a lower risk of unfavorable outcomes (adjusted relative risk (aRR) 0.90; 95% CI 0.82-0.99) among 'all PTB' patients and bacteriologically confirmed PTB patients (aRR 0.91; 95% CI 0.82-1.00).

Conclusion: In PTB patients detected by ECS the treatment outcomes were not inferior to those detected by PCF.