Isoniazid Completion Rates for Latent Tuberculosis Infection Among College Students Managed by a Community Pharmacist

Objective: The authors' objective was to document 9-month and previously recommended 6-month treatment completion rates for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in a pharmacist-managed LTBI clinic in a community pharmacy on a college campus, and to describe patient characteristics.

Participants: Participants were university students diagnosed with LTBI.

Methods: The authors conducted a retrospective review of pharmacy records from 2000 to 2006. Main outcome measures included 6-month and 9-month LTBI treatment completion rates, total isoniazid (INH) tablets taken, characteristics of completers versus noncompleters, average time to treatment completion, and reported adverse drug events.

Results: The 9-month completion rate was 59%, and the 6-month completion rate was 67%. Among those not completing treatment, 15.2% experienced fatigue and 2.2% experienced a rash (p=.04 and p=.03, respectively).

Conclusion: LTBI clinics are a unique niche for community pharmacies and can provide individualized patient care to ensure LTBI treatment adherence, monitoring for disease progression, and safety of INH.