TREATMENT OUTCOMES OF TUBERCULOSIS PATIENTS IN DEBRE MARKOS REFERRAL HOSPITAL, NORTH WEST ETHIOPIA (JUNE 2008-AUGUST 2013): A FIVE YEAR RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

Background:Tuberculosis is the second most common cause of death due to an infectious disease after human immunodeficiency virus. According to World Health Organization 2010 report, 9.4 million incidents and 14 million prevalent cases were occurred. Ethiopia has been one of the 22 high TB burden countrieswith an incidence and prevalence rate of 300 and 470 cases per 100,000 populations respectively. To evaluate the effectiveness of tuberculosis control program, continuous monitoring of the outcome of tuberculosis treatment and analyze the specific reasons for unsuccessful treatment outcome are important.

Objective: To assess the treatment outcomes and possible associated factors on patients who registered on DOTS clinic of Debre Markos hospital, North West Ethiopia, from June 2008-August 2013.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted among 717 TB patients who are registered at DOTs clinic of Debre Markos referral hospital. Socio-demographic and clinical data of the study participants were collected from the TB log from the DOTS clinic. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 16 software.

Result: out of 717(371 men and 346 females) aged 18 and above, 425(59.3%) had successful and (9.4%) 67 had unsuccessful treatment outcome. In the final multivariate logistic model, the odds of unsuccessful treatment outcome was higher among patients being age older than 51 years, rural residence, pulmonary negative, positive for HIV status and being in the year 2008 as compared to their respective comparison groups.

Conclusion: Treatment outcome among TB patients in Debre Markos hospital was unsatisfactory. Those patients at high risk of an unfavourable treatment outcome should be identified early and given additional follow-up