Adherence to Concurrent Tuberculosis Treatment and Antiretroviral Treatment among Co-Infected Persons in South Africa, 2008-2010.

BACKGROUND: Adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment and antiretroviral therapy (ART) reduces morbidity and mortality among persons co-infected with TB/HIV. We measured adherence and determined factors associated with non-adherence to concurrent TB treatment and ART among co-infected persons in two provinces in South Africa. METHODS: A convenience sample of 35 clinics providing integrated TB/HIV care was included due to financial and logistic considerations. Retrospective chart reviews were conducted among persons who received concurrent TB treatment and ART and who had a TB treatment outcome recorded during 1 January 2008-31 December 2010. Adherence to concurrent TB and HIV treatment was defined as: (1) taking ≥80% of TB prescribed doses by directly observed therapy (DOT) as noted in the patient card; and (2) taking >90% ART doses as documented in the ART medical record during the concurrent treatment period (period of time when the patient was prescribed both TB treatment and ART). Risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to identify factors associated with non-adherence. RESULTS: Of the 1,252 persons receiving concurrent treatment, 138 (11.0%) were not adherent. Non-adherent persons were more likely to have extrapulmonary TB (RR: 1.71, 95% CI: 1.12 to 2.60) and had not disclosed their HIV status (RR: 1.96, 95% CI: 1.96 to 3.76). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of persons with TB/HIV were adherent to concurrent treatment. Close monitoring and support of persons with extrapulmonary TB and for persons who have not disclosed their HIV status may further improve adherence to concurrent TB and antiretroviral treatment.

Risk of Death among HIV Co-Infected Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis Patients, Compared To Mortality in the General Population of South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Even though highly effective drugs are available in South Africa, multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients with HIV infection have higher mortality compared to HIV-uninfected MDR-TB patients. This trend has been observed in similar countries with high HIV prevalence. This study sought to determine excess mortality attributable to HIV among MDR-TB patients in South Africa using relative survival methods. METHODS: Data available were from a cohort of 2079 MDR-TB patients enrolled in a Standardized Programmatic Management of MDR-TB from 2000 to 2004 in South Africa. A Poisson-based model adjusted for age, gender, year of diagnosis, TB history, and resistance to ethambutol, anti-TB injectable drugs and fluoroquinolones antibiotics was constructed to assess the excess mortality among HIV co-infected MDR-TB patients. Excess hazard ratios (EHRs) were used to describe the effect of the predictors on net mortality, controlling for the general mortality in the South African population. RESULTS: Death was recorded on 1619 patients, of whom 367 (22.7%) had died within 2 years. Out of the 1413 patients that tested for HIV infection, 554 (39.2%) tested positive. Excess mortality was higher in HIV infected, compared to HIV uninfected, MDR-TB patients (adjusted excess hazard ratio, 5.6 [95% CI, 3.2-9.7]); in patients whose TB isolates' resistance to ethambutol and kanamycin was unknown (3.7 [2.1-6.2] and 4.87 [1.9-13.3], respectively) vs. known. There were no differences in excess mortality between age and gender of the patient, year of diagnosis and TB history. CONCLUSION: Adjusting for some important predictors, MDR-TB patients with HIV infection experienced higher excess mortality compared to HIV-uninfected MDR-TB patients, after accounting for the general mortality in South Africa. An appropriate, though complex method has produced predictor effect estimates similar to those obtained from classical methods. Thus, the use of relative survival methods should be encouraged in the analysis of causespecific mortality, when ascertainment of cause of death is inaccurate or unknown.