Determinants of unsuccessful treatment outcome of pulmonary tuberculosis under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Program in Mohali district, India

Tuberculosis is a global healthcare concern, being the leading infectious cause of mortality by a single infectious agent. India bears the highest burden of tuberculosis. Disease outcome is an important indicator for the successful implementation of the National Program. Risk factors associated with unsuccessful outcomes must be identified, and differential care must be provided to those with risk factors. The study included all pulmonary tuberculosis patients registered from 1st October 2022 to 30th September 2023 at the Directly Observed Therapy Short Course Center, Dr. BR Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Sciences, Mohali, who received treatment. Data was collected from the Nikshay portal retrospectively. Out of 1103, 575 (52.13%) patients were declared cured, whereas 452 (40.97%) were declared treatment completed. A total of 19 (1.72%) pulmonary tuberculosis patients died during treatment, and 57 (5.16%) were declared failures. Advanced age [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 4.028, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.368-4.610, p=0.003], people living with HIV (AOR 0.185, 95% CI 0.031-1.082, p=0.05) and male gender (crude OR 1.611, 95% CI: 0.371-1.006, p=0.050) were associated with poor outcomes. Diabetes, retreatment, microbiological confirmation, and low body mass index were not statistically significant in the study. Age above 45 years, male sex, and HIV co-infection are determinants for unsuccessful treatment outcomes in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.