Impact of COVID-19 on Tuberculosis Case Detection and Treatment Outcomes in Sierra Leone.
Sulaiman LakohDarlinda F JibaMamadu BaldehOlukemi AdekanmbiUmu BarrieAlhassan L SeisayGibrilla F DeenRobert A SalataGeorge A YendewaPublished in: Tropical medicine and infectious disease (2021)
The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected tuberculosis (TB) care delivery in high burden countries. We therefore conducted a retrospective study to assess the impact of COVID-19 on TB case detection and treatment outcomes at the Chest Clinic at Connaught Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Overall, 2300 presumptive cases were tested during the first three quarters of 2020 (intra-COVID-19) versus 2636 in 2019 (baseline), representing a 12.7% decline. Testing declined by 25% in women, 20% in children and 81% in community-initiated referrals. Notwithstanding, laboratory-confirmed TB cases increased by 37.0% and treatment success rate was higher in 2020 (55.6% vs. 46.7%, p = 0.002). Multivariate logistic regression analysis found that age < 55 years (aOR 1.74, 95% CI (1.80, 2.56); p = 0.005), new diagnosis (aOR 1.69, 95% CI (1.16, 2.47); p = 0.007), pulmonary TB (aOR 3.17, 95% CI (1.67, 6.04); p < 0.001), HIV negative status (aOR 1.60, 95%CI (1.24, 2.06); p < 0.001) and self-administration of anti-TB drugs through monthly dispensing versus directly observed therapy (DOT) (aOR 1.56, 95% CI (1.21, 2.03); p = 0.001) independently predicted treatment success. These findings may have policy implications for DOTS in this setting and suggest that more resources are needed to reverse the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on TB program activities in Sierra Leone.
Keyphrases
- mycobacterium tuberculosis
- coronavirus disease
- sars cov
- healthcare
- pulmonary tuberculosis
- mental health
- public health
- primary care
- hiv infected
- pulmonary hypertension
- young adults
- human immunodeficiency virus
- type diabetes
- respiratory syndrome coronavirus
- emergency department
- hiv positive
- label free
- mass spectrometry
- adverse drug
- cell therapy
- chronic pain
- pregnant women
- drug induced
- men who have sex with men
- solid phase extraction