Treatment outcome of new smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Hamadan, Iran: A registry-based cross-sectional study

ObjectivesTreatment outcome of Tuberculosis (TB), as a key determinant to evaluate the effectiveness of TB control program, remains a public health challenge in many developed and developing countries. This study aimed to assess treatment outcomes of new smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB).MethodsThis retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 510 registered new PTB patients in Hamadan province, Iran during 2005–13. The data were extracted from the National TB Program (NTP). The main outcome was treatment success. The results of evaluation of the associated factors with successful treatment were presented as Odds Ratios (OR), and bootstrap method was used to obtain 95% Confidence Interval (95% CI). All statistical analysis was performed at 0.05 significant levels using the Stata 12 (Stata Corp, College Station, TX, USA).ResultsOverall, successful treatment outcome was 83.1%, and 9.4% of the patients died during the study period. In univariate logistic regression, only hospitalization history was associated with successful treatment (OR = 2.02, 95% CI: 1.25, 3.24). After adjustment for age, weight, and delayed diagnosis, the factors associated with successful treatment were gender and having HIV risk factors and hospitalization history.ConclusionTreatment success rate in our study was 83.1%, which is slightly lower than the success target set by World Health Organization (WHO). Key determinants of poor treatment success rate, such as male gender, and not having hospitalization history during the treatment period, should be considered in efforts aimed to improve the treatment outcome in the management of TB.