Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Oct 21;4(Suppl 2):S54-8.
doi: 10.5588/pha.14.0040.

Treatment outcomes among drug-susceptible tuberculosis patients in Latvia, 2006-2010

I Lucenko  1 , V Riekstina  2 , J Perevoscikovs  1 , D Mozgis  3 , M Khogali  4 , J Gadoev  5 , P de Colombani  6 , A M V Kumar  7
Affiliations

Treatment outcomes among drug-susceptible tuberculosis patients in Latvia, 2006-2010

I Lucenko et al. Public Health Action. .

Abstract

Setting: Latvia, an Eastern European country with a high burden of tuberculosis (TB).

Objective: To describe treatment outcomes among new drug-susceptible TB patients and assess the association of treatment outcomes with selected social determinants and risk factors.

Design: A retrospective cohort study of patients aged ⩾15 years registered during 2006-2010, with a review of records in the National Tuberculosis Registry.

Results: Of 2476 patients, 1704 (69%) were male; the median age was 42 years. About two thirds of patients were unemployed or retired, 7% were human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive and 35% had a history of alcohol use. Treatment success was achieved in 2167 (88%) patients. Older age, unemployment, HIV infection and alcohol use were found to be independently associated with unsuccessful treatment (death, loss to follow-up, failure, transfer out and other). For many variables, including HIV infection, diabetes mellitus and tobacco use, it was not possible to distinguish between 'not recorded' and 'not present' in the registry.

Conclusion: The treatment success rate among new drug-susceptible TB patients exceeded the 85% global target for TB control. Additional attention and support is required for most vulnerable patients, such as those who are unemployed or retired, HIV infected and alcohol users. The National TB Registry should be revised to improve definitions and staff should be trained for proper data collection and recording.

Keywords: SORT IT; risk factors; social determinants; unsuccessful treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE
FIGURE
Treatment outcomes among new drug-susceptible tuberculosis patients aged ⩾15 years registered for treatment, Latvia, 2006–2010 (n = 2476).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization. Global tuberculosis report 2013. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO; 2013. WHO/HTM/TB/2013.11.
    1. World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe. Plan to Stop TB in 18 high-priority countries in the WHO European Region, 2007–2015. Copenhagen, Denmark: WHO; 2007.
    1. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control/WHO Regional Office for Europe. Tuberculosis surveillance and monitoring in Europe 2013. Stockholm, Sweden: ECDC; 2013.
    1. Suhrcke M, Stuckler D, Suk J E et al. The impact of economic crises on communicable disease transmission and control: a systematic review of the evidence. PLOS ONE. 2011;6(6):e20724. - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Bank. The World Bank data. GDP per capita (current US$) in Latvia, 2004–2012. Washington DC, USA: World Bank; 2014. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD/countries/LV--XR?disp... Accessed August 2014.

LinkOut - more resources