W Htike1, M A Islam2, M T Hasan3, S Ferdous2, M Rifat4. 1. World Health Organization, Myanmar, Yangon, Myanmar. 2. BRAC Health, Nutrition and Population Programme, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 3. James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 4. BRAC Health, Nutrition and Population Programme, Dhaka, Bangladesh ; University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
Abstract
SETTING: A tertiary medical college hospital in Dhaka City Corporation area, Dhaka, Bangladesh. OBJECTIVES: To identify factors associated with treatment delay among tuberculosis (TB) patients referred from a public diagnostic centre to various DOTS treatment centres in Dhaka City Corporation area, Bangladesh. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 123 patients referred from the Dhaka Medical College Hospital to different DOTS treatment centres during July-October 2012. Factors associated with treatment delay (>1 day between referral and initiation of DOTS treatment) were identified. RESULTS: Among the 123 patients referred from the hospital, treatment delay was found to range between 2 and 17 days (median 2). In bivariate analysis, treatment delay was found to be significantly associated with the patient's diagnostic category. In multivariate analysis, World Health Organization ( WHO) Category II patients were found to be four times more likely to have treatment delay than WHO Category I patients, and married patients were much more likely to have treatment delays than unmarried patients. CONCLUSION: The study findings suggest that the main factors contributing to treatment delay among TB patients were history of previous anti-tuberculosis treatment, marital status and age. Patients should be given extensive information about the dangers of treatment delay before referring them to DOTS treatment centres.
SETTING: A tertiary medical college hospital in Dhaka City Corporation area, Dhaka, Bangladesh. OBJECTIVES: To identify factors associated with treatment delay among tuberculosis (TB) patients referred from a public diagnostic centre to various DOTS treatment centres in Dhaka City Corporation area, Bangladesh. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 123 patients referred from the Dhaka Medical College Hospital to different DOTS treatment centres during July-October 2012. Factors associated with treatment delay (>1 day between referral and initiation of DOTS treatment) were identified. RESULTS: Among the 123 patients referred from the hospital, treatment delay was found to range between 2 and 17 days (median 2). In bivariate analysis, treatment delay was found to be significantly associated with the patient's diagnostic category. In multivariate analysis, World Health Organization ( WHO) Category II patients were found to be four times more likely to have treatment delay than WHO Category I patients, and married patients were much more likely to have treatment delays than unmarried patients. CONCLUSION: The study findings suggest that the main factors contributing to treatment delay among TBpatients were history of previous anti-tuberculosis treatment, marital status and age. Patients should be given extensive information about the dangers of treatment delay before referring them to DOTS treatment centres.
Entities:
Keywords:
Bangladesh; DOTS treatment; Dhaka Medical College; delay initiation
Authors: Shahab E Saqib; Mokbul Morshed Ahmad; Carmen Amezcua-Prieto; Martínez-Ruiz Virginia Journal: Am J Trop Med Hyg Date: 2018-05-10 Impact factor: 2.345