The Treatment Outcomes of Tuberculosis And Human Immunodeficiency Virus Co-Infection Among Patients Attending DOTS Centre At Specialist Hospital Gombe, North Eastern Nigeria

<strong>Introduction: </strong>Tuberculosis (TB) is the commonest opportunistic infection seen in Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients and TB/HIV co-infection is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Globally, it is estimated that 1.1 million people have TB/HIV co-infection with sub-Saharan Africa contributing to 80% of cases and 380,000 annually fatalities. <strong>Materials and Methods: </strong>This was a hospital-based retrospective cross-sectional study. Information was abstracted from the patients' register at the TB DOTS treatment centre of the specialist hospital Gombe from 1^st January 2011 to 31^st December 2015. Data was organized into an Excel Microsoft Spreadsheet. Tables were used to present Univariate and Bivariate analyses. The Chi-square test was used to determine associations between dependent and independent variables. <strong>Results: A record</strong> of 3066 patients that were diagnosed and treated for TB during the study period was considered. Overall, males constituted 1839 (60%) and those aged 25 -34 contributed more than a quarter of the studied population. A total of 811(26.5%) had TB/HIV co-infection, with higher preponderance in the age group 35-44 years{200 (36.2%)} and more females than males were co-infected 397(32.0%). Co-infection rate was higher among the smear-negative cases. This study recorded a cure rate of 42.6%, a mortality rate of 2.9% and a treatment success rate of 78.0%. <strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study found a high prevalence of TB/HIV co-infection amongst the study population mostly affecting the adult female group. A low cure rate was recorded with a treatment success rate below the 85% WHO set target. We, therefore, recommend more awareness creation on TB/HIV co-infection, supportive supervision, proper monitoring of patients at treatment centres and adequate contact tracing at the community level.