Shortened Drug Regimens for the Treatment of Active Tuberculosis

The current treatments for active tuberculosis (TB) disease involve long courses of antibiotic treatments (e.g., 6 months or longer), and the length of the treatments may negatively impact treatment adherence. Incomplete treatment adherence is a contributing factor to persistent TB disease and the development of drug-resistant TB. New, shorter treatment regimens (e.g., 4 months) are available and there is interest in comparing the effectiveness of the shorter and longer treatment regimens. In 2019, a Cochrane systematic review (SR) was published that compared shortened versus standard treatment regimens for TB. In August 2020, CADTH searched the literature to see if any new evidence on the topic had been published since the Cochrane review. That report identified the Cochrane SR and 1 randomized controlled trial (RCT) that was potentially relevant. In May 2021, the search was rerun to capture any articles published since the initial search date. The purpose of the current report is to summarize and critically appraise the eligible publications. This report is a component of a larger CADTH condition-level review on TB. A condition-level review is an assessment that incorporates all aspects of a condition, from prevention and detection to treatment and management. For more information on CADTH’s condition-level review on TB, please visit the project page (https://www.cadth.ca/tuberculosis).