High Mortality During Tuberculosis Treatment in Vietnam
Author Information
Author(s): Marleen Vree, Huong Nguyen, Duong Bui, Co Nguyen, Sy Dinh, Frank Cobelens, Martien Borgdorff
Primary Institution: KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation
Hypothesis
High mortality rates would indicate long diagnostic delay.
Conclusion
Diagnostic delay is not associated with treatment mortality in Vietnam, suggesting that high case fatality should not be used as an indicator of long diagnostic delay.
Supporting Evidence
- Fatality was 4.4% among the studied patients.
- Fatality did not correlate with diagnostic delay at the district level.
- The study included 1,881 patients with complete data.
Takeaway
This study found that waiting a long time to get treated for tuberculosis doesn't mean more people will die from it.
Methodology
A cohort of 2,093 patients was followed, with data on diagnosis and treatment extracted from routine registers.
Potential Biases
Recall bias may have affected the accuracy of reported diagnostic delays.
Limitations
The study may not represent patients who did not start treatment or those treated in specialized hospitals.
Participant Demographics
Patients aged ≥ 15 years with newly diagnosed smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.5
Confidence Interval
95%CI 0.67–1.84
Statistical Significance
p=0.5
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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