Back to Journals » Risk Management and Healthcare Policy » Volume 3

Characterization and evaluation of the directly observed treatment for tuberculosis in Santiago de Compostela (1996–2006)

Authors Mejuto B, Tuñez Bastida, Perez M, Garcia Romos R

Published 22 June 2010 Volume 2010:3 Pages 21—26

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/RMHP.S8921

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 2



Beatriz Mejuto1, Victoria Tuñez2, María Luisa Pérez del Molino3, Rosario García4

1Pharmacology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain; 2Tuberculosis Unit, Preventive Medicine Department, Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, Spain; 3Microbiology Department, Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, Spain; 4Pharmacy Department, Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Objective: To realize a retrospective study of the characterization, results, and effectiveness of directly observed therapy, short course (DOTS) in the regional health area of Santiago de Compostela (population 453 068) between 1996 and 2006.

Design: Tuberculosis (TB) patient cases involved in DOTS treatment were reviewed. The studied variables included: age, sex, type of TB, TB location, microbiological studies, chest radiology, pattern and treatment duration, final status of case, and TB recurrence.

Results: There were 2456 diagnosed TB cases in the time period studied and 259 received DOTS. The reasons for inclusion in this treatment strategy were social dystocia in 33.2% of cases, retreatment in 30.8% of cases, alcoholism in 29.3% of cases, drug use in 17.4% of cases, HIV coinfection in 11.6% of cases, multidrug-resistant strains of TB (MDR-TB) in 3.1%, and being an immigrant in 1.9% of cases. Primary TB represented 3.5% of the instances and pulmonary TB represented 87.6%. Bacteriological confirmation was performed in 76.8% of this population. Cavitated forms in chest radiology were shown in 46.7% of patients. Standard treatment guidelines were used in 71.4% of patients. Treatment adherence was achieved in 96.1% of the cases and 86.9% cases had a successful final status. Recurrence of TB was 1.5%.

Conclusion: Although it is not possible to determine the exact influence of the DOTS strategy, its introduction under the conditions of the Galician Program for Prevention and Control of Tuberculosis (GPPCT)5 has worked to improve the control of tuberculosis in our health area.

Keywords: tuberculosis, DOTS, selection criteria, drugs, recurrence

Creative Commons License © 2010 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.