title: Initiation and completion rates for latent tuberculosis infection treatment: a systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Control of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is an important step towards tuberculosis elimination. Preventive treatment will prevent the development of disease in most cases diagnosed with LTBI. However, low initiation and completion rates affect the effectiveness of preventive treatment. The objective was to systematically review data on initiation rates and completion rates for LTBI treatment regimens in the general population and specific populations with LTBI.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic review of the literature (PubMed, Embase) published up to February 2014 was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-five studies on initiation rates and 83 studies on completion rates of LTBI treatment were found. These studies provided initiation rates (IR) and completion rates (CR) in people with LTBI among the general population (IR 26-99 %, CR 39-96 %), case contacts (IR 40-95 %, CR 48-82 %), healthcare workers (IR 47-98 %, CR 17-79 %), the homeless (IR 34-90 %, CR 23-71 %), people who inject drugs (IR 52-91 %, CR 38-89 %), HIV-infected individuals (IR 67-92 %, CR 55-95 %), inmates (IR 7-90 %, CR 4-100 %), immigrants (IR 23-97 %, CR 7-86 %), and patients with comorbidities (IR 82-93 %, CR 75-92 %). Generally, completion rates were higher for short than for long LTBI treatment regimens.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Initiation and completion rates for LTBI treatment regimens were frequently suboptimal and varied greatly within and across different populations.
authors.affiliation: Former Surveillance and Response Section, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, 171 65, Sweden.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sandgren
authors.affiliation: Pallas, Health Research and Consultancy B.V., Rotterdam, 3001, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marije
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vonk Noordegraaf-Schouten
authors.affiliation: Pallas, Health Research and Consultancy B.V., Rotterdam, 3001, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Femke
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: van Kessel
authors.affiliation: Pallas, Health Research and Consultancy B.V., Rotterdam, 3001, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stuurman
authors.affiliation: Pallas, Health Research and Consultancy B.V., Rotterdam, 3001, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anouk
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oordt-Speets
authors.affiliation: , Tomtebodavägen 11a, 171 65, Solna, Sweden. marieke.vanderwerf@ecdc.europa.eu.
authors.forename: Marieke J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: van der Werf
mesh_terms: D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D006282:Health Personnel; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons; D006801:Humans; D055985:Latent Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016903:Drug Monitoring
keywords: Latent tuberculosis; Risk groups; Treatment completion; Treatment initiation; Tuberculosis