A prediction rule to stratify mortality risk of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

Tuberculosis imposes high human and economic tolls, including in Europe. This study was conducted to develop a severity assessment tool for stratifying mortality risk in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients. A derivation cohort of 681 PTB cases was retrospectively reviewed to generate a model based on multiple logistic regression analysis of prognostic variables with 6-month mortality as the outcome measure. A clinical scoring system was developed and tested against a validation cohort of 103 patients. Five risk features were selected for the prediction model: hypoxemic respiratory failure (OR 4.7, 95% CI 2.8-7.9), age >= 50 years (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.7-4.8), bilateral lung involvement (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.44.4), >= 1 significant comorbidity-HIV infection, diabetes mellitus, liver failure or cirrhosis, congestive heart failure and chronic respiratory disease-(OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.3-3.8), and hemoglobin = 6) mortality risk. The mortality associated with each group was 2.9%, 22.9% and 53.9%, respectively. The model performed equally well in the validation cohort. We provide a new, easy-to-use clinical scoring system to identify PTB patients with high-mortality risk in settings with good healthcare access, helping clinicians to decide which patients are in need of closer medical care during treatment.This work was supported by Fundacao Amelia de Mello/Jose de Mello Saude and Sociedade Portuguesa de Pneumologia (SPP). This work was developed under the scope of the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). NSO is a FCT (Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia) investigator. MS is an Associate FCT Investigator. The fundershad no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Association of outcomes with comprehension, adherence and behavioral characteristics of tuberculosis patients using fixed-dose combination therapy in Contagem, Minas Gerais, Brazil

The present study aimed to assess the association of outcomes with comprehension, adherence and behavioral characteristics of tuberculosis (TB) patients using fixed-dose combination (FDC) therapy in the city of Contagem, MG, Brazil. This study used standardized questionnaires to collect data. Outcomes included cure in 77.2% (64/ 83), noncompliance with treatment in 20.4% (17/ 83), and absence of organ failure or death cases. The rate of adherence to treatment was high (71.1% - 59/ 83), while the level of comprehension of the treatment was insufficient for the majority of patients (72.3% - 60/ 83). When a greater number of medicines was used, the chance of noncompliance with treatment increased exponentially (p = 0.00 - OR 1.72). Light-skinned black patients, alcoholics and those who live with HIV/ AIDS showed a significant association with noncompliance with treatment (p=0.039 - OR 3.38, p=0.002 - OR 4.68, and p=0.001 - OR 9.68, respectively). Comprehension also presented a significant association with noncompliance with treatment (p=0.01 and OR 5.76 and CI 1.49-22.29). The probability of noncompliance with treatment in the first few months was greater than in the subsequent months. This study demonstrates that if the TB patients had a better understanding of the treatment, the outcome would have been more favorable as regards a proper cure