Household members and health care workers as supervisors of tuberculosis treatment

OBJECTIVE: To compare tuberculosis cure rates among patients supervised by household members or health care workers. METHODS: Prospective cohort study of 171 patients treated by the program in Vitoria, Southeastern Brazil, from 2004 to 2007. Each patient was followed-up for six months until the end of the treatment. Of the patients studied, a household member supervised 59 patients and healthcare workers supervised 112 patients. Patients' sociodemographic and clinic data were analyzed. Differences between groups were assessed using chi-square test or Student's t-test. Significance level was set at 5%. RESULTS: Most patients had smear positive, culture confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis. Two patients were HIV-positive. There were more illiterate patients in the healthcare-supervised group, in comparison to those supervised by their families (p=0.01). All patients supervised by a household member were cured compared to 90% of the patients supervised by health care workers (p = 0.024). CONCLUSIONS: Successful tuberculosis treatment was more frequent when supervised by household members.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Maciel,Ethel Leonor Noia, Guidoni,Leticia Molino, Brioshi,Ana Paula, Prado,Thiago Nascimento do, Fregona,Geisa, Hadad,David Jamil, Molino,Lucilia Pereira, Palaci,Moises, Johnson,John L, Dietze,Reynaldo
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	English
Published:	Faculdade de Saúde Pública da Universidade de São Paulo 2010
Online Access:	http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-89102010000200015
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