Assessment of GeneXpert GxAlert platform for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis diagnosis and patients' linkage to care in Tanzania.
BMC Res Notes
; 11(1): 121, 2018 Feb 09.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29426372
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
The gap between patients diagnosed with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and enrolment in treatment is one of the major challenges in tuberculosis control programmes. A 4-year (2013-2016) retrospective review of patients' clinical data and subsequent in-depth interviews with health providers were conducted to assess the effectiveness of the GeneXpert GxAlert platform for MDR-TB diagnosis and its impact on linkage of patients to care in Tanzania.RESULTS:
A total of 782 new rifampicin resistant cases were notified, but only 242 (32.3%) were placed in an MDR-TB regimens. The remaining 540 (67.07%) patients were not on treatment, of which 103 patients had complete records on the GxAlert database. Of the 103 patients 39 were judged as untraceable; 27 died before treatment; 12 were treated with first-line anti-TBs; 9 repeat tests did not show rifampicin resistance; 15 were not on treatment due to communication breakdown, and 1 patient was transferred outside the country. In-depth interviews with health providers suggested that the pre-treatment loss for the MDR-TB patients was primarily attributed to health system and patients themselves. We recommend strengthening the health system by developing and implementing well-defined interventions to ensure all diagnosed MDR-TB patients are accurately reported and timely linked to treatment.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Rifampin
/
Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant
/
Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial
/
Antibiotics, Antitubercular
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Qualitative_research
Limits:
Adult
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
Language:
En
Journal:
BMC Res Notes
Year:
2018
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Tanzania