title: Factors associated with excessively lengthy treatment of tuberculosis in the eastern Paris region of France in 2004.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few data are available on prescriber adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment guidelines. In particular, excessively long treatment carries a risk of avoidable adverse effects and represents a waste of healthcare resources. We examined factors potentially associated with excessively long treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed the medical records of patients diagnosed with TB in 2004 in the eastern Paris region. Sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with excessively long treatment were identified by logistic regression analyses. Based on contemporary guidelines, excessively long treatment was defined as more than 6 months of a four-drug regimen for thoracic TB with full sensitive strains, and more than 12 months for patients with extrathoracic TB.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analyses concerned 478 patients with a median age of 36.0 +/- 13.5 years, of whom 48% were living in precarious conditions (i.e. poor living conditions and/or no health insurance), 80% were born abroad, and 17% were HIV-seropositive. TB was restricted to the chest in 279 patients (isolated pulmonary, pleuropulmonary, and isolated pleural TB in 245, 13, and 21 patients, respectively), exclusively extrathoracic in 115 patients, and mixed in the remaining 84 patients. Treatment was prescribed by a chest specialist in 211 cases (44.1%) and 295 patients (61.7%) were managed in a single institution. The treatment duration complied with contemporary guidelines in 316 cases (66.1%) and was excessively long in 162 cases (33.9%). The median duration of excessively long treatment was 313 days (IQR: 272-412). In multivariate analysis, isolated thoracic TB, previous TB, HIV infection, a prescriber other than a chest specialist, and management in more than one healthcare center during treatment were independently associated with excessively lengthy treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  One-third of TB patients received excessively long treatment, reflecting inadequate awareness of management guidelines or unwillingness to implement them.
authors: AP-HP, Hôpital Saint-Antoine, Service de Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales, Paris, F-75012 France. nadia.valin@sat.aphp.fr
authors: Nadia
authors: N
authors: Valin
authors: Gilles
authors: G
authors: Hejblum
authors: Isabelle
authors: I
authors: Borget
authors: Henri-Pierre
authors: HP
authors: Mallet
authors: Fadi
authors: F
authors: Antoun
authors: Didier
authors: D
authors: Che
authors: Christos
authors: C
authors: Chouaid
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002985:Clinical Protocols / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008485:Medical Audit; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010297:Paris; D012923:Social Class; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*