Evaluation of Treatment Outcomes and Factors Associated with Unsuccessful Outcomes in Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis Patients in Baluchistan Province of Pakistan

Background: Evaluating treatment outcomes of a cohort of patients is an effective way for analyzing the effectiveness of a program. Information regarding drug resistance pattern, detailed management, treatment outcomes and factors associated with unsuccessful outcomes in multidrug resistant (MDR-TB) patients is missing from Baluchistan province of Pakistan.

Methods: This study was carried out at Programmatic Management of Drug Resistant TB unit at Fatimah Jinnah General and Chest Hospital Quetta. All eligible 186 MDR-TB patients enrolled at the study site from January 1, 2012 to April 30, 2016 were retrospectively followed until the treatment outcomes were reported. Data was abstracted through a standardized data collection form and analysed by SPSS 20. Multivariate binary logistic regression (MVBLR) analysis was used to evaluate factors associated with i) death and treatment failure and ii) lost to follow up. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The study participants were resistant to a median of four drugs (range 2-8) with majority being resistant to any second-line anti-TB drug (SLD) (55.5%). Among SLD, resistance was highest for ofloxacin (52.2%). The study site had an overall treatment success rate of 71.6%. A total of 129 (69.4%) patients were cured, four (2.2%) completed treatment, 37 died (19.9%), 14 (7.5%) were lost to follow up and two (1.1%) were declared treatment failures. In MVBLR analysis, patients' age of >40 years (OR = 4.249, p-value = 0.001) had statistically significant positive and baseline body weight of >40 kg (OR = 0.256, p-value = 0.002) had statistically significant negative association with death and treatment failure. No factor had statistical significant association with lost to follow up.

Conclusion: Overall treatment success rate was promising but did not achieve the target success rate (>75%) set by World Health Organization. It can be further improved by paying special attention and providing enhanced management to the patients with risk factors for unsuccessful outcomes.