PRINCIPLES: Adequate treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis cures patients and reduces transmission. The study assesses treatment outcomes under current conditions in Switzerland. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study including all TB cases with positive sputum cultures notified to the national surveillance system between July 1996 and June 1997. Ten months after notification, treating physicians reported the outcomes using WHO categories. RESULTS: Of 265 patients, 209 (79%) completed at least 6 months' treatment, 3 (1%) were treatment failures, 23 (9%) died, 8 (3%) defaulted from treatment and 22 (8%) left the country. The proportion of successful treatments did not significantly differ between the 103 Swiss-born (80%) and the 162 foreign-born (78%) patients. There were 19 deaths (18%) in the Swiss-born and 4 (2%) in the foreign-born groups; death was caused by TB in two patients, 10 died of other causes (cause unknown in 11). In the foreign-born group there were 31 (19%) potentially unsatisfactory outcomes (treatment failure, default from treatment, transfer abroad) and in the Swiss-born group 2 (2%). Default from treatment involved 8 patients, 6 of whom were asylum seekers. In a multivariate analysis potentially unsatisfactory outcomes were not significantly associated with foreign origin but with status as a foreigner of irregular or unknown legal status (adj. OR 8.8; 95% CI 1.4 to 53.7). CONCLUSIONS: Overall treatment success rates are satisfactory and similar to those of other western European countries. Potentially unsatisfactory outcomes are more common in foreign-born persons of irregular legal status. Tracking of non-adherent patients by health workers could further improve outcomes.
PRINCIPLES: Adequate treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis curespatients and reduces transmission. The study assesses treatment outcomes under current conditions in Switzerland. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study including all TB cases with positive sputum cultures notified to the national surveillance system between July 1996 and June 1997. Ten months after notification, treating physicians reported the outcomes using WHO categories. RESULTS: Of 265 patients, 209 (79%) completed at least 6 months' treatment, 3 (1%) were treatment failures, 23 (9%) died, 8 (3%) defaulted from treatment and 22 (8%) left the country. The proportion of successful treatments did not significantly differ between the 103 Swiss-born (80%) and the 162 foreign-born (78%) patients. There were 19 deaths (18%) in the Swiss-born and 4 (2%) in the foreign-born groups; death was caused by TB in two patients, 10 died of other causes (cause unknown in 11). In the foreign-born group there were 31 (19%) potentially unsatisfactory outcomes (treatment failure, default from treatment, transfer abroad) and in the Swiss-born group 2 (2%). Default from treatment involved 8 patients, 6 of whom were asylum seekers. In a multivariate analysis potentially unsatisfactory outcomes were not significantly associated with foreign origin but with status as a foreigner of irregular or unknown legal status (adj. OR 8.8; 95% CI 1.4 to 53.7). CONCLUSIONS: Overall treatment success rates are satisfactory and similar to those of other western European countries. Potentially unsatisfactory outcomes are more common in foreign-born persons of irregular legal status. Tracking of non-adherent patients by health workers could further improve outcomes.
Authors: Lukas Fenner; Sebastien Gagneux; Jean-Paul Janssens; Jan Fehr; Matthias Cavassini; Matthias Hoffmann; Enos Bernasconi; Jacques Schrenzel; Thomas Bodmer; Erik C Böttger; Peter Helbling; Matthias Egger Journal: PLoS One Date: 2012-03-30 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Knut Lönnroth; Giovanni Battista Migliori; Ibrahim Abubakar; Lia D'Ambrosio; Gerard de Vries; Roland Diel; Paul Douglas; Dennis Falzon; Marc-Andre Gaudreau; Delia Goletti; Edilberto R González Ochoa; Philip LoBue; Alberto Matteelli; Howard Njoo; Ivan Solovic; Alistair Story; Tamara Tayeb; Marieke J van der Werf; Diana Weil; Jean-Pierre Zellweger; Mohamed Abdel Aziz; Mohamed R M Al Lawati; Stefano Aliberti; Wouter Arrazola de Oñate; Draurio Barreira; Vineet Bhatia; Francesco Blasi; Amy Bloom; Judith Bruchfeld; Francesco Castelli; Rosella Centis; Daniel Chemtob; Daniela M Cirillo; Alberto Colorado; Andrei Dadu; Ulf R Dahle; Laura De Paoli; Hannah M Dias; Raquel Duarte; Lanfranco Fattorini; Mina Gaga; Haileyesus Getahun; Philippe Glaziou; Lasha Goguadze; Mirtha Del Granado; Walter Haas; Asko Järvinen; Geun-Yong Kwon; Davide Mosca; Payam Nahid; Nobuyuki Nishikiori; Isabel Noguer; Joan O'Donnell; Analita Pace-Asciak; Maria G Pompa; Gilda G Popescu; Carlos Robalo Cordeiro; Karin Rønning; Morten Ruhwald; Jean-Paul Sculier; Aleksandar Simunović; Alison Smith-Palmer; Giovanni Sotgiu; Giorgia Sulis; Carlos A Torres-Duque; Kazunori Umeki; Mukund Uplekar; Catharina van Weezenbeek; Tuula Vasankari; Robert J Vitillo; Constantia Voniatis; Maryse Wanlin; Mario C Raviglione Journal: Eur Respir J Date: 2015-04 Impact factor: 16.671
Authors: Tuula Vasankari; Pekka Holmström; Jukka Ollgren; Kari Liippo; Maarit Kokki; Petri Ruutu Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2007-10-14 Impact factor: 3.295