Factors affecting successful antituberculosis treatment: a single-center experience

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Infectious Diseases
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Tuberculosis (TB) treatment success rates are crucial for controlling the disease.
• Identifying factors influencing treatment outcomes can guide targeted public health interventions.
• Understanding patient vulnerabilities is key to improving TB management strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate factors affecting successful antituberculosis treatment outcomes.
• To analyze the association between social and clinical factors and TB treatment success.
• To inform health actions aimed at increasing the TB treatment success rate in Brazil.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective study of 348 TB patients treated between 2010 and 2016 at a reference service in Brazil.
• Exclusion of patients from the penitentiary system and those with resistant or multidrug-resistant TB.
• Logistic regression analysis to identify factors associated with successful (cured) or unsuccessful (default, death) treatment outcomes.

Main Results:

• The overall TB treatment success rate was 85.96% during the study period.
• Patients with less than 8 years of education had a higher likelihood of unfavorable treatment outcomes (OR 1.66).
• People living with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) had a lower likelihood of successful treatment (OR 0.23).

Conclusions:

• Low educational attainment is a significant vulnerability factor for unfavorable TB treatment outcomes.
• Living with HIV/AIDS is strongly associated with reduced success in antituberculosis treatment.
• These findings highlight the need for tailored support for vulnerable TB patients to improve treatment success rates.