Treatment outcomes in an integrated civilian and prison MDR-TB treatment program in Russia.
METHODS
Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a major problem in countries of the former Soviet Union in both the civilian and prison sectors.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate outcomes of the MDR-TB treatment program (DOTS-Plus) in Tomsk, Russia.


METHODS
Retrospective case series of all patients enrolled in this program between 10 September 2000 and 10 September 2002. The program involves both the civilian and penitentiary TB services in Tomsk. Poor treatment outcome was defined as death, default and treatment failure.


RESULTS
Among the 244 patients who received treatment, 77% were cured, 5% died, 7% failed, and 12% defaulted. In a multivariable analysis, alcohol consumption during treatment and the presence of both cavitary and bilateral disease were found to be the strongest predictors of poor treatment outcome.


CONCLUSIONS
The integration of civilian and penitentiary TB services in the Tomsk MDR-TB treatment program has resulted in high cure rates and low rates of default. However, alcohol use among patients with MDR-TB is associated with poor treatment outcomes. Better understanding and programmatic alcohol interventions are needed if large-scale treatment of MDR-TB is to be successful in areas with high rates of alcohol use disorders.
Shin
S S
SS
Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02120, USA. sshin@partners.org
Pasechnikov
A D
AD
Gelmanova
I Y
IY
Peremitin
G G
GG
Strelis
A K
AK
Mishustin
S
S
Barnashov
A
A
Karpeichik
Y
Y
Andreev
Y G
YG
Golubchikova
V T
VT
Tonkel
T P
TP
Yanova
G V
GV
Nikiforov
M
M
Yedilbayev
A
A
Mukherjee
J S
JS
Furin
J J
JJ
Barry
D J
DJ
Farmer
P E
PE
Rich
M L
ML
Keshavjee
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011329:Prisoners; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012426:Russia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018088:Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology
D000995:Antitubercular Agents