Development of prognostic scoring system for predicting 1-year mortality among pulmonary tuberculosis patients in South India.

BACKGROUND: Development of a prediction model using baseline characteristics of tuberculosis (TB) patients at the time of diagnosis will aid us in early identification of the high-risk groups and devise pertinent strategies accordingly. Hence, we did this study to develop a prognostic-scoring model for predicting the death among newly diagnosed drug sensitive pulmonary TB patients in South India. METHODS: We undertook a longitudinal analysis of cohort data under the Regional Prospective Observational Research for Tuberculosis India consortium. Multivariable cox regression using the stepwise backward elimination procedure was used to select variables for the model building and the nomogram-scoring system was developed with the final selected model. RESULTS: In total, 54 (4.6%) out of the 1181 patients had died during the 1-year follow-up period. The TB mortality rate was 0.20 per 1000 person-days. Eight variables (age, gender, functional limitation, anemia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, diabetes, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio) were selected and a nomogram was built using these variables. The discriminatory power was 0.81 (95% confidence interval: 0.75-0.86) and this model was well-calibrated. Decision curve analysis showed that the model is beneficial at a threshold probability ~15-65%. CONCLUSIONS: This scoring system could help the clinicians and policy makers to devise targeted interventions and in turn reduce the TB mortality in India.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Tuberculosis Care and Treatment in Puducherry - A Mixed Method Study.

BACKGROUND: The shift of focus toward pandemic control had an impact on public health issues that need to be addressed. As the impact may vary in the different areas based on COVID-19 cases and strictness of measures to control the disease, studying the local situation and related factors is essential to strengthening the TB program. OBJECTIVES: The objective is to compare the TB care before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore the challenges faced by stakeholders during the pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A mixed method study was conducted in Puducherry with a quantitative phase involving data extraction from the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP), followed by in-depth interviews to explore the challenges faced by stakeholders. RESULTS: In 2020, there were 67% and 23% reductions in number of presumptive TB case and notified TB cases, respectively, while the decline was lesser in the year 2021 (reduction of 59% and 13%, respectively). The main challenges faced in providing and accessing TB care were social stigma, lockdown restrictions, fear of getting COVID-19, redeployment of staff to COVID-19-related activities and increased COVID-19 workload. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to strengthen active case finding for the missed TB cases through the mobile vans equipped with diagnostics, combined testing for COVID-19 and TB, greater inclusion of private sector and dispensaries as well as community awareness for stigma prevention.

Prevalence and risk factors associated with latent tuberculosis infection among household contacts of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients in South India.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine the prevalence and find the risk factors associated with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among the household contacts (HHC) of pulmonary TB patients. METHODS: This cohort study was conducted from 2014 to 2019. Pretested standardised questionnaires and tools were used for data collection. The prevalence of LTBI among HHCs of TB patients was summarised as proportion with 95% confidence interval (CI). Mixed-effects generalised linear modelling function (meglm) in STATA with family Poisson and log link was performed to find the factors associated with LTBI. RESULTS: In total, 1523 HHC of pulmonary TB patients were included in the study. Almost all HHC shared their residence with the index case (IC) for more than a year; 25% shared the same bed with the IC. The prevalence of LTBI among the HHC of TB patients was 52.6% (95% CI: 50.1-55.1%). In an adjusted model, we found that among HHC belonging to the age group of 19-64 years (aIRR = 1.2; 95% CI: 1.1-1.3; p-value: 0.02), to the age group >65 years (aIRR = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.1-1.9, p-value: 0.02) and sharing the same bed with the IC (aIRR = 1.2, 95% CI: 1.1-1.3, p value: 0.04) were independent determinants of LTBI among the HHC. CONCLUSION: One in two household contacts of TB patients have latent tuberculosis infection. This underscores the need of targeted contact screening strategies, effective contact tracing and testing using standardised methods in high TB burden settings.

Smoked and smokeless tobacco use among pulmonary tuberculosis patients under RNTCP in urban Puducherry, India.

BACKGROUND: Smoking is associated with unfavourable treatment outcomes like failures and defaults among the TB patients. OBJECTIVES: To study the prevalence and pattern of tobacco use among the pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients in urban Pondicherry and study the association of various socio-demographic variables with current smoked and smokeless tobacco users. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 235 PTB patients from 6 randomly selected urban PHCs of Pondicherry from Jan 2013 to March 2014. Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence was used. Chi-square test and multiple-logistic regression were done. RESULTS: Prevalence of smoking among the PTB patients at the time of TB diagnosis was 35.3%, whereas the same during the continuation phase (CP) was 23.4%. Among 83 smokers at the time of diagnosis, 52 modified and 31 did not modify their smoking after TB diagnosis. Similarly, prevalence of smokeless tobacco use both at the time of TB diagnosis and during CP was 9.8%. Male and lower education level was associated with current smoking. Similarly, female and lower education level was associated with current smokeless tobacco use. CONCLUSIONS: One-third of PTB patients used smoked or smokeless tobacco during their CP. Health programme needs to concentrate on PTB patients who continue to use smoked or smokeless tobacco during their treatment; necessary interventions need to be planned.