Factors associated with treatment outcome of tuberculosis in Bale Robe General Hospital, Southeastern Ethiopia: A retrospective study

Abstract

Aims:This study investigated the treatment success rate and the associated factors in patients with different forms of tuberculosis (TB) at Bale Robe General Hospital (BRGH), southeastern Ethiopia from 2012 to 2016.Methods:An institution-based retrospective study was conducted. The study population was patients with TB registered at BRGH. The inclusion criteria were TB diagnosis with Ziehl-Neelsen staining for acid-fast bacillus and/or radiography and having treatment initiated from 2012 through 2016. Subjects with incomplete information were excluded.Results:Among 807 patients with TB, 665 (82.4%) had successful treatment outcome (cure: 25.5%, treatment completion: 56.9%) and 142 (17.6%) patients had unsuccessful treatment outcome. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, age 65 years or older, being unemployed, having treatment after a previous failure, and receiving treatment during 2014 were associated with a reduced probability of treatment success. TB patients who were HIV-negative and treated during 2015 had higher treatment success. In multinomial logistic regression analysis, patients younger than 65 years of age showed a lower risk of death, whereas HIV-positive patients and patients treated during 2012 were more likely to experience death. New patients with TB were less likely to have treatment failure, but patients with TB who had treatment after failure were more likely to be transferred.Conclusions:This study showed that TB out treatment success rate was satisfactory but below the minimum target set by the World Health Organization (85%). Age 65 and over, being unemployed, having treatment after failure and HIV co-infection were associated with unsatisfactory treatment outcomes.

Keywords

• tuberculosis
• treatment outcome
• treatment success rate
• ethiopia