Treatment outcomes of patients with drug resistant tuberculosis;Experience from a tertiary care hospital in Abbottabad

Abstract

Background:The emergence of Drug resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB)challenging all efforts against TB control and this diseasenowbecameaglobalhealth problem.It isaman-madeproblem andsothis typeofdiseasefoundmoreinretreatmentcases. Objective: This study was designed to study the outcome of management of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Abbottabad which is one of the PMDT sites managed by the National tuberculosis program Pakistan since 2013.Methodology: This descriptive cross sectional study analyzes the data of DR-TB patients treated at the PMDT site Abbottabad from April 2013 to October 2018.Results: A total of 227 patients with DR-TB have been treated at the PMDT site Abbottabad. The cure rate for DR-TB treatment regimens is 69.16%. Forty two (18.5%) patients died during the course of treatment, treatment failure was declared in 5 (2.2%) while 15 (6.61%) patients were lost to follow up. The frequency of primary MDR-TB was 15.42% during this course of treatment.Conclusion: Despite a higher cure rates observed, there is a lot of room for improvement since primary MDR-TB appears to be on the rise. It is pertinent to adapt measures to increase patient compliance by keeping them motivated to adhere to treatment goals.