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Prevalence and Treatment outcome of Tuberculosis patient across different Age groups and gender at District swat from 2014-2019; A retrospective approach
Background: The incidence of Tuberculosis (TB) is decreasing too slowly to meet the End TB Strategy's target, and Pakistan is one of the countries most affected by TB. TB can manifest as pulmonary or extra-pulmonary, with symptoms such as cough, chest pain, fever, night sweats, and weight loss. The study was conducted with the aim to identify the prevalence and outcome of the treatment among patient diagnose with pulmonary tuberculosis in district swat.
Method and Materials: The data was collected from October to December 2022, using a retrospective, observational design in district swat, Pakistan of patients who diagnosed and received treatment from 2015 to 2019. The total patients were 15,567 patients with drug-sensitive tuberculosis (DS-TB) among the total population of 2.3 million of district swat. The data was gathered from various sources, including laboratory request forms, TB registers, treatment cards, and GeneXpert test registries. Data analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS, and the findings were presented in the form of tables and graphics.
Results: The total number of participants was 15,567, where 98.64% were new cases, while 1.36% was previously treated. The incidence of TB was higher in males than females. A higher number of TB cases were recorded in 2018, while the lowest number was observed in 2015. The proportion of TB cases decreased as age increased. The diagnosis revealed that 20.98% of patients had pulmonary smear-positive TB, while 39.41% had pulmonary smear-negative TB.
Moreover, 39.60% of patients had extra-pulmonary TB. The annual number of patients diagnosed with PBC, PCD, and EP TB increased significantly during the study period. The overall treatment success rates were 93.9% for PBC cases, 98.76% for PCD cases, and 97.85% for EP cases, varying by year and type of TB.
Conclusion: Early identification of the disease is essential in preventing the emergence of drug-resistant strains, highlighting the importance of timely culture and drug susceptibility testing. Improved diagnostic practices hold the potential to enhance treatment efficacy and play a pivotal role in the worldwide battle against tuberculosis.
KEYWORDS: tuberculosis, prevalence, outcome, treatment, MDR-TB, clinical environment, diagnosis