Effect of directly observed preventive therapy for latent tuberculosis infection in San Francisco.
METHODS
San Francisco TB Clinic instituted a directly observed preventive therapy (DOPT) program for treatment of persons with latent TB infection in 1996.


OBJECTIVE
To examine therapy completion for latent tuberculosis infection before and after implementation of the DOPT program.


METHODS
Medical records were analyzed for patients at the San Francisco TB Clinic referred from high-risk sites for the periods 1993-1994 (n = 619) and 1997-June 1998 (n = 460). Treatment completion and time of therapy were analyzed comparing DOPT to self-administered therapy (SAT).


RESULTS
More DOPT patients completed treatment (70.3%) than SAT patients (47.9%) (P < 0.001). Controlling for sex, age, race/ethnic group and cohort, patients on DOPT were nearly twice as likely to complete therapy (OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.25-3.00).


CONCLUSIONS
DOPT is a successful strategy. Combined with targeted testing, DOPT can have an important impact in areas with traditionally low rates of treatment adherence.
White
M C
MC
Community Health Systems, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0608, USA. mcwhite@itsa.ucsf.edu
Gournis
E
E
Kawamura
M
M
Menendez
E
E
Tulsky
J P
JP
D000328:Adult; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D023801:Directly Observed Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012495:San Francisco; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000188:drug therapy*
D000995:Antitubercular Agents