Tuberculosis treatment outcomes and their related factors in patients with tuberculosis treated at the Antituberculosis Center of Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
Ngouama BB, Mouzinga FH, Dello MNM, Djontu JC, Elion Assiana DO, Okemba Okombi FH, Tchuandom SB, Ayet MI, et al. (14 authors)
IJID regions · 2025-04
Abstract
Objectives Tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcome is one of the key indicators to evaluate the performance of TB control programs. This study aims to assess TB treatment outcomes and their related associated factors in patients treated at the Antituberculosis Center of Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. Methods A prospective cohort study was conducted at the Antituberculosis Center of Brazzaville from July 2022 to August 2023, involving 305 patients with pulmonary TB diagnosed with the GenXpert MTB/RIF assay. These patients were closely monitored using acid-fast bacillus microscopy while receiving treatment based on whether they were drug-sensitive (DS) or drug-resistant. Sputum samples from patients who were DS were analyzed at 2, 5, and 6 months, whereas patients who were multi-drug-resistant (MDR) underwent a monthly sputum analysis for 9 months. Results The overall successful treatment rate was 80.3%, with 70.8% of patients cured and 9.5% completing treatment. Conversely, 19.7% experienced unsuccessful outcomes, including 13.4% loss to follow-up, 3.6% deaths, and 1.6% treatment failures. The treatment success in individuals co-infected with HIV was 46.7% (seven of 15), whereas it was 42% (eight in 19) in patients who were MDR. HIV-negative status (adjusted odds ratio = 5.11; 95% confidence interval: 1.73-13.44) and DS-TB (adjusted odds ratio = 8.29; 95% confidence interval: 3.17-21.04) were associated with increased success of treatment outcome. Conclusions The overall TB treatment success rate was below the World Health Organization End TB Strategy threshold, with a high proportion of patients lost to follow-up and a low treatment success in patients with TB/HIV and those who were MDR. The findings highlight the need to enhance supervision, improve directly observed treatment short course monitoring, and develop strategies to minimize patients lost to follow-up.