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. 2015 Dec 15;10(12):e0144244.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144244. eCollection 2015.

Time to Death and Associated Factors among Tuberculosis Patients in Dangila Woreda, Northwest Ethiopia

Abayneh Birlie  1 , Getnet Tesfaw  2 , Tariku Dejene  3 , Kifle Woldemichael  4
Affiliations

Time to Death and Associated Factors among Tuberculosis Patients in Dangila Woreda, Northwest Ethiopia

Abayneh Birlie et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. More than 70% of the deaths of TB patients occur during the first two months of TB treatment. The major risk factors that increase early death of TB patients are being positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), being of old age, being underweight or undergoing re-treatment.

Objective: To assess the time of reported deaths and associated factors in a cohort of patients with TB during TB treatment.

Methods: An institution-based retrospective cohort study was analyzed in Dangila Woreda, Northwest Ethiopia from March 1st through March 30, 2014. All TB patients registered in the direct observed treatment (DOTs) clinic from 2008-2012 were included in the study. Data were entered into EpiData and exported to SPSS for analysis. The survival probability was analyzed by the Kaplan Meier method and Cox regression analysis was applied to investigate factors associated with death during TB treatment.

Results: From a total of 872 cases registered in TB registry log book, 810 were used for the analysis of which 60 (7.4%) died during the treatment. The overall mortality rate was 12.8/1000 person months of observation. A majority of TB deaths 34 (56.7%) occurred during the intensive phase of the treatment, and the median time of death was at two months of the treatment. Age, HIV status and baseline body weight were independent predictors of death during TB treatment.

Conclusions: Most deaths occurred in the first two months of TB treatment. Old age, TB/HIV co-infection and a baseline body weight of <35 kg increased the mortality during TB treatment. Therefore, a special follow up of TB patients during the intensive phase, of older patients and of TB/HIV co-infected cases, as well as nutritionally supplementing for underweight patients may be important to consider as interventions to reduce deaths during TB treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Survival curve of TB patients treated under DOTs program by socio-demographic and clinical characteristics in Dangila Woreda, Northwest Ethiopia, 2008–2012.
A) Age of the patients, B) Weight of the Patients, C) HIV status.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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