An audit of diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in Ethiopia
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><strong>Background:</strong><span> Despite the existence of national tuberculosis guidelines (NTG) in Ethiopia, the incidence and prevalence of tuberculosis did not decline markedly. Audits...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
AOSIS
2014-01-01
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| Series: | African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/582 |
| _version_ | 1818130337967898624 |
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| author | Valerie J. Ehlers Getahun S. Aragaw |
| author_facet | Valerie J. Ehlers Getahun S. Aragaw |
| author_sort | Valerie J. Ehlers |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><strong>Background:</strong><span> Despite the existence of national tuberculosis guidelines (NTG) in Ethiopia, the incidence and prevalence of tuberculosis did not decline markedly. Audits could attempt to determine whether or not healthcare professionals actually implemented these guidelines, as non-implementation could contribute to suboptimal tuberculosis treatment outcomes.</span><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To evaluate healthcare providers’ implementation of Ethiopia’s NTG during the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in order to enhance tuberculosis treatment outcomes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A descriptive, cross-sectional study design was used.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> Healthcare providers implemented the NTG during tuberculosis diagnosis for female (60.9%; <em>n</em> = 67) and male (56.1%; <em>n</em> = 69) patients. The correct numbers of anti-tuberculosis pills, complying with the NTG recommendations, were prescribed for 91.8% (<em>n</em> = 101) of the women and for 90.2% (<em>n</em> = 111) of the men. However, both over- and under-prescriptions of anti-tuberculosis drugs occurred. There was an over-diagnosis of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis. Only 2.6% (<em>n</em> = 2) of the 76 smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis patients had been diagnosed correctly.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Implementation of the NTG should be enhanced, especially with regard to the diagnosis of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis patients and the correct prescription of anti-tuberculosis drugs. This would help to increase the number of correctly-diagnosed and -treated tuberculosis patients, improve tuberculosis treatment outcomes, decrease the spread of tuberculosis and prevent the development of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis strains.</p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; line-height: 150%;"><strong><span style="line-height: 150%; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></span></strong></p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height: 150%; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="text-transform: uppercase; line-height: 150%; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" lang="EN-GB"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T08:03:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ad9aab56fda040d28339a546fe634117 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2071-2928 2071-2936 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T08:03:27Z |
| publishDate | 2014-01-01 |
| publisher | AOSIS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-ad9aab56fda040d28339a546fe6341172022-12-22T01:15:03ZengAOSISAfrican Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine2071-29282071-29362014-01-0161e1e6249An audit of diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in EthiopiaValerie J. Ehlers0Getahun S. Aragaw1Department of Health Studies, University of South AfricaDepartment of Health Studies, University of South Africa<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><strong>Background:</strong><span> Despite the existence of national tuberculosis guidelines (NTG) in Ethiopia, the incidence and prevalence of tuberculosis did not decline markedly. Audits could attempt to determine whether or not healthcare professionals actually implemented these guidelines, as non-implementation could contribute to suboptimal tuberculosis treatment outcomes.</span><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To evaluate healthcare providers’ implementation of Ethiopia’s NTG during the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in order to enhance tuberculosis treatment outcomes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A descriptive, cross-sectional study design was used.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> Healthcare providers implemented the NTG during tuberculosis diagnosis for female (60.9%; <em>n</em> = 67) and male (56.1%; <em>n</em> = 69) patients. The correct numbers of anti-tuberculosis pills, complying with the NTG recommendations, were prescribed for 91.8% (<em>n</em> = 101) of the women and for 90.2% (<em>n</em> = 111) of the men. However, both over- and under-prescriptions of anti-tuberculosis drugs occurred. There was an over-diagnosis of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis. Only 2.6% (<em>n</em> = 2) of the 76 smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis patients had been diagnosed correctly.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Implementation of the NTG should be enhanced, especially with regard to the diagnosis of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis patients and the correct prescription of anti-tuberculosis drugs. This would help to increase the number of correctly-diagnosed and -treated tuberculosis patients, improve tuberculosis treatment outcomes, decrease the spread of tuberculosis and prevent the development of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis strains.</p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; line-height: 150%;"><strong><span style="line-height: 150%; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></span></strong></p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height: 150%; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="text-transform: uppercase; line-height: 150%; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" lang="EN-GB"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span>http://www.phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/582Adherence to health care policies, extra-pulmonary Tuberculosis (TB), pulmonary TB, TB diagnosis, TB treatment guidelines, TB in Ethiopia |
| spellingShingle | Valerie J. Ehlers Getahun S. Aragaw An audit of diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in Ethiopia African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine Adherence to health care policies, extra-pulmonary Tuberculosis (TB), pulmonary TB, TB diagnosis, TB treatment guidelines, TB in Ethiopia |
| title | An audit of diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in Ethiopia |
| title_full | An audit of diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in Ethiopia |
| title_fullStr | An audit of diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in Ethiopia |
| title_full_unstemmed | An audit of diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in Ethiopia |
| title_short | An audit of diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in Ethiopia |
| title_sort | audit of diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in ethiopia |
| topic | Adherence to health care policies, extra-pulmonary Tuberculosis (TB), pulmonary TB, TB diagnosis, TB treatment guidelines, TB in Ethiopia |
| url | http://www.phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/582 |
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