Assessing relation between sputum smear grading in positive pulmonary Tuberculosis patients with treatment outcome

Unsuccessful treatment of tuberculosis (TB) is big challenge to public health. Some conflicting results in regards with relationship of the sputum smear degree in unsuccessful treatments or death of patients have been reported. Therefore, the current study aimed to evaluate the relationship of the grading of sputum smear-positive patients in the beginning of treatment on treatment consequences.
In this descriptive-analytic study, which was from cross studies, the records of all positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients were investigated during the years 2010 to 2013 in the Abadan TB register system. Distribution status of sputum positive in the beginning of the treatment was determined by using descriptive statistics. The Chi-square test was used to assess the relationship between sputum smear grading of the patients and treatment outcomes. Data were analyzed using Stata-12.
From a total of 188 patients during the 4-year period, 68.1% of them were males and 87.8% of them were living in urban areas. Furthermore, 80.8% of the patients recovered, 9.6% died, 3.2% had unsuccessful treatment, 3.7% were transformed to other universities and 2.7% of them were missing. Also, it was found that there was a significant relationship between the basil level in the beginning of the treatment with treatment outcomes of the patients (P=0.02).
It was found that there was a significance relation between the grading of sputum smear-positive patients and treatment outcomes, as the patients with higher grading of sputum smear–positive the rate of recovery was better. Therefore, it is recommended that appropriate standard treatment under proper conditions and management including daily direct supervision (DOTS) and support of patients by the complete recovery should be offered.