Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis is a public health problem and its transmission is a threat to the community. 

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the factors influencing the treatment outcomes and the effectiveness of the National Tuberculosis Program (NTP) in relation to the application of the directly observed treatment, short-course (DOTS) program in various sites in Istanbul, Turkey.

Study Design: Case-Control Study

Methods:  A case-control study was used, where cases and controls were randomly selected from the Turkish Tuberculosis National Database, which includes complete data on treatment outcomes for patients recorded in the database from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2009 and had one year follow-up.

Results: The case group was composed of 464 patients with adverse outcome, while the control group was composed of 441 patients who had been cured of disease. Factors associated with adverse treatment outcome were >65 years of age (OR: 3.39 (1.99-5.76)) ; male gender (OR:2.11 (1.49-2.99)); born outside Turkey (OR: 5.48 (2.13-14.04)); co-morbidity (OR: 1.85 (1.29-2.65)); bilateral radiologic lesions (OR: 2.07 (1.41-3.00); previous treatment history (OR: 3.99 (2.78-5.74)); 3rd month positive microscopy (OR: 4.96 (3.04-8.09)) and any H&R +/- others  multidrug resistant (MDR) resistance (OR: 22.64 (6.92-74.08)). There was no association between the adverse treatment outcome and the application site of direct observation treatment, short course (DOTS) delivery and the supervisors.

Conclusion: Our findings indicate similar quality in DOTS application and supervision among patients with or without adverse treatment outcomes.  However, patients with certain characteristics should be carefully monitored and aggressively treated.