Treatment outcome of tuberculosis patients at National Hospital Abuja Nigeria: a five year retrospective study

Abstract

Background: The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Nigeria has militated against efforts to control TB. This study determined the differences in TB treatment outcome between patients with TB/HIV co-infection and those without HIV co-infection in National Hospital Abuja, Nigeria. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study on pulmonary TB patients that were treated in National Hospital Abuja, Nigeria from January 2007 to December 2012. Data was collected from the Directly Observed Treatment Shortcourse (DOTS) clinic and hospital records and analysed using stata version 12. The HIV sero-prevalence was determined and TB treatment outcomes in patients co-infected with TB and HIV was compared to that of HIV negative patients. The t-test and chi square test was used to verify differences in means and proportions and multiple logistic regression to adjust for potential confounders. Sensitivity analysis was done to address the problems of loss to follow up and missing data. Results: A total of 389 cases were assessed. The HIV sero-prevalence rate in the study was 42.7%. Fifty-three percent of the study population were within the age category 30–49 years. There was strong evidence of an association between TB/HIV co-infection rate among the various age categories (p = 0.01). HIV positive cases had a lower treatment success rate, 48.8% vs. 78.5% (p < 0.001), a higher rate of treatment failure, 10.8% vs. 4% (p = 0.01), and a higher rate of default, 38.6% vs. 17% (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The study provides evidence that TB/HIV co-infection impacts negatively on TB treatment outcome. (Full text available online at www.medpharm.tandfonline.com/ojfp) S Afr Fam Pract 2015; DOI: 10.1080/20786190.2014.995913