Treatment success rate and associated factors among drug susceptible tuberculosis individuals in St. Kizito Hospital, Matany, Napak district, Karamoja region. A retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death among infectious agents globally. An estimated 10 million people are newly diagnosed and 1.5 million die of the disease annually. Uganda is among the 30 high TB-burdenedd countries, with Karamoja having a significant contribution of the disease incidence in the country. Control of the disease in Karamoja is complex because a majority of the at-risk population remain mobile; partly because of the nomadic lifestyle. This study, therefore, aimed at describing the factors associated with drug-susceptible TB treatment success rate (TSR) in the Karamoja region. METHODS: This was a retrospective study on case notes of all individuals diagnosed with and treated for drug-susceptible TB at St. Kizito Hospital Matany, Napak district, Karamoja from 1st Jan 2020 to 31st December 2021. Data were abstracted using a customised data abstraction tool. Data analyses were done using Stata statistical software, version 15.0. Chi-square test was conducted to compare treatment success rates between years 2020 and 2021, while Modified Poisson regression analysis was performed at multivariable level to determine the factors associated with treatment success. RESULTS: We studied records of 1234 participants whose median age was 31 (IQR: 13-49) years. Children below 15 years of age accounted for 26.2% (n = 323). The overall treatment success rate for the study period was 79.3%(95%CI; 77.0%-81.5%), with a statistically significant variation in 2020 and 2021, 75.4% (422/560) vs 82.4% (557/674) respectively, (P = 0.002). The commonest reported treatment outcome was treatment completion at 52%(n = 647) and death was at 10.4% (n = 129). Older age, undernutrition (Red MUAC), and HIV-positive status were significantly associated with lower treatment success: aPR = 0.87(95%CI; 0.80-0.94), aPR = 0.91 (95%CI; 0.85-0.98) and aPR = 0.88 (95%CI; 0.78-0.98); respectively. Patients who were enrolled in 2021 had a high prevalence of treatment success compared to those enrolled in 2020, aPR = 1.09 (95%CI; 1.03-1.16). CONCLUSION: TB TSR in Matany Hospital was suboptimal. Older age, poor nutrition, and being HIV-positive were negative predictors of treatment success. We propose integrating nutrition and HIV care into TB programming to improve treatment success.

"Swallowing these drugs every day, you get tired": a mixed-methods study to identify Barriers and facilitators to retention and HIV Viral Load suppression among the Adolescents living with HIV in TASO Mbale and TASO Soroti centers of excellence.

Background: Adolescents aged 10-19, living with HIV (ALHIV) lag behind in attaining optimal viral load suppression (VLS) rates and retention in care, an important impediment to reaching epidemic control. This study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to both VLS and retention among in the sub-population who seek care from TASO Mbale and TASO Soroti centers of excellence, to facilitate adaptation of the operation triple zero in the setting. Methods: We used a mixed methods approach, extracting secondary data on ALHIV who were active in care during April-June 2022 quarter to determine one year retention in care. Analysis was done in STATA Corp, 15.0. We used logistic regression to determine associated factors and adjusted odds ratio (aOR) to report level of predictability, using 95% confidence interval (CI) and P<0.05 for statistical significance. For qualitative component, purposive sampling of 59 respondents was done. Focused group discussions, key informant interviews, and in-depth interviews were used to collect data. Thematic content analysis was done using Atlas ti. Results: There were 533 ALHIV, with 12-month retention rate of 95.9% and VLS rate of 74.9%. Predictors for good VLS included good adherence [aOR:95%CI 0.066(0.0115, 0.38) P=0.02], being on first line treatment [aOR:95%CI 0.242 (0.0873,0.6724) P=0.006]. For retention, they include being a school going [aOR:95%CI 0.148(0.024,0.9218) P=0.041], multi month dispensing aOR:95%CI 32.6287(5.1446,206.9404) P<0.001, OVC enrolment aOR:95%CI 0.2625(0.083, 0.83) P=0.023]. Meanwhile key barriers included: individual ones such as internal stigma, lack of transport and treatment/drug fatigue; facility-level such as prolonged waiting time and lack of social activities; community level include stigma and discrimination, inadequate social support and food shortage. In terms of facilitators, individual level ones include good adherence and knowledge of one's HIV status; facility-level such as provision of adolescent friendly services and community-level such as social support and decent nutrition. Conclusions: VLS rate was sub-optimal mainly due to poor adherence. HIV programs could utilize the barriers and facilitators identified to improve VLS. Conversely, retention rate at one year was good, likely due to provision of adolescent friendly health services. ALHIV and their caregivers need to be empowered to sustain retention and improve VLS. Contributions to science: By accentuating the barriers and facilitators to retention and VLS among the ALHIV, we ensure HIV programs continue to prioritize effective interventions and discard others as the epidemic evolves. To this, our findings strategically validate the effectiveness of provision of adolescent friendly services and client-centered care in attaining good retention rate.Secondly, being a mixed-methods study, complementarily adds value to the existing body of knowledge on barriers and facilitators while reminding programmers that VLS remains sub-optimal and more efforts are necessary.Finally, different stakeholders could use our findings to advocate for more resources to address some of the barriers such as food shortage, empowerment of ALHIV and caregivers and strengthening skilling programs for ALHIV, especially the out-of-school.