Gurbanova, E.1; Mehdiyev, R.2; Blondal, K.3; Altraja, A.4
Main Medical Department, Ministry of Justice, Baku, Azerbaijan;
Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Universityof Tartu, Tartu, Estonia;
Department of Communicable Disease Prevention and Control, Reykjavik Health CareServices, Reykjavik, Iceland;
Lung Clinic, Tartu University Hospital, Tartu, Estonia
Source: The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Volume 20, Number 5, 1 May 2016, pp. 645-651(7)
Publisher: International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
OBJECTIVE: To determine the factors predictive of cure among inmates with pulmonary rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (RR-TB).
DESIGN: A total of 444 new and previously treated patients with pulmonary RR-TB who started treatment with second-line anti-tuberculosis drugs in the penitentiary system of Azerbaijan during the period 1 April 2007–28 February 2013 were retrospectively subjected to multivariate logistic regression analysis.
RESULTS: Of the 444 patients, 78.4% were cured. A higher number of effective bactericidal drugs in the regimen at months 7–12 and 13–18, normal chest X-ray and body mass index more/equal to 18.5 kg/m2 at the treatment start significantly increased the chances of cure both in all cases (aOR 2.29, aOR 4.39, aOR 1.18, aOR 1.98 and aOR 1.97, respectively) and in retreatment cases (aOR 3.88, aOR 5.02, aOR 1.17, aOR 2.26 and aOR 1.90, respectively). There was no added benefit of using moxifloxacin (MFX) as compared to levofloxacin (LVX) in case of resistance to ofloxacin.
CONCLUSION: The use of a higher number of effective bactericidal drugs after month 6 of treatment for RR-TB was found to be the main factor associated with cure. No added benefit of using MFX instead of LVX was found. High cure rates can be achieved among vulnerable population groups such as prisoners if comprehensive TB control measures are in place to ensure low loss to follow-up.
