TB treatment delay associated with drug resistance and admission at Daru General Hospital in Papua New Guinea

SETTING: Daru General Hospital, Daru Island, Papua New Guinea, where high rates of tuberculosis (TB) have been reported. Prompt diagnosis and effective treatment are needed for improving TB outcomes and to prevent nosocomial transmission. OBJECTIVE: To assess the time to treatment initiation and the risk factors associated with delayed treatment for patients started on TB treatment at Daru General Hospital from January to September 2017. DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort study that entailed reviewing the records from treatment, admission, discharge and presumptive TB registers. RESULTS: = 0.001). CONCLUSION: A high proportion of TB patients commenced treatment <7 days. Inpatient status, DR-TB and lack of microbiological confirmation were associated with delays in treatment initiation. We recommend that programmes monitor the time from presentation to treatment initiation, and propose that a period of >3 days from presentation to treatment initiation be considered as delayed treatment initiation.