Treatment Outcomes of Tuberculosis Patients Under Directly Observed Treatment Short Course Program at a Tertiary Care Hospital of Rawalpindi

Abstract

Objective: To determine the treatment outcomes of tuberculosis patients registered under directly observed treatment short course (DOTS) program at Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi. Study Design: Descriptive Case Series. Place and Duration of Study: TB DOTS Clinic, Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi from September 2015 to March 2016. Materials and Methods: A total of 75 tuberculosis patients were enrolled by consecutive sampling. Data was collected by means of structured proforma in which demographic details of patients were entered along with information regarding site of TB and treatmentoutcomes and success of outcomes. “Cured” was labeled for those patients who finished six months treatment with negative sputum microscopy result for Acid Fast Bacillus (AFB) at the end of treatment. “Treatment Completed” was labeled for those patients who finished six months treatment, but no sputum microscopy result for AFB at the end of treatment. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 17. Results: Majority (61.3%) of patients coming to TB center were females showing increased frequency of women having tuberculosis in the setting. Most of the patients belonged to urban area i.e. 65.3%. In our study, a healthy finding was observed that the commonest treatment outcome was treatment completed (65.3%) followed by 21.3% of cured ones and treatment failure was very low (2.7%). Conclusion: Majority of the tuberculosis patients registered under directly observed treatment short course program at Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi had successful treatment outcomes. It is recommended that patients with unsuccessful treatment outcomes should be followed up for health education as well as treatment accordingly.

Keywords

• dots, tuberculosis, outcomes.