Predictors of mortality and survival probability distribution among patients on tuberculosis treatment in Vihiga County, Kenya

Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) related mortality remains a serious impediment in ending TB epidemic.
 Objective: To estimate survival probability and identify predictors, causes and conditions contributing to mortality among TB patients in Vihiga County.
 Methods: A cohort of 291 patients from 20 purposively selected health facilities were prospectively considered. Data was obtained by validated questionnaires through face-to-face interviews. Survival probabilities were estimated using Kaplan-Meier method while Cox proportional hazard model identified predictors of TB mortality through calculation of hazard ratios at 95% confidence intervals. Mortality audit data was qualitatively categorized to elicit causes and conditions contributing to mortality.
 Results: 209 (72%) were male, median age was 40 (IQR=32-53) years while TB/HIV coinfection rate was 35%. Overall, 45 (15%) patients died, majority (78% (log rank<0.001)) during intensive phase. The overall mortality rate was 32.2 (95% CI 23.5 - 43.1) deaths per 1000 person months and six months’ survival probability was 0.838 (95% CI, 0.796-0.883). Mortality was higher (27%) among HIV positive than HIV negative (9%) TB patients. Independent predictors of mortality included; comorbidities (HR = 2.72, 95% CI,1.36–5.44, p< 0.005), severe illness (HR=5.06, 95% CI,1.59–16.1, p=0.006), HIV infection (HR=2.56, 95%CI,1.28–5.12, p=0.008) and smoking (HR=2.79, 95% CI,1.01–7.75, p=0.049). Independent predictors of mortality among HIV negative patients included; comorbidities (HR = 4.25, 95% CI; 1.15-15.7, p = 0.03) and being clinically diagnosed (HR = 4.8, 95% CI; 1.43-16, P = 0.01) while among HIV positive; they included smoking (HR = 4.05, 95% CI;1.03-16.0, P = 0.04), severe illness (HR = 5.84, 95% CI; 1.08-31.6, P = 0.04), severe malnutrition (HR = 4.56, 95% CI; 1.33-15.6, P = 0.01) and comorbidities (HR = 3.04, 95% CI; 1.03-8.97, p = 0.04). More than a half (52%) of mortality among HIV positive were ascribed to advancedHIV diseases while majority of (72%) of HIV negative patients died to TB related lung disease. Conditions contributing to mortality were largely patient and health system related.
 Conclusion: Risk of TB mortality is high and is attributable to comorbidities, severe illness, HIV and smoking. Causes and conditions contributing to TB mortality are multifaceted but modifiable. Improving TB/HIV care could reduce mortality in this setting.
 Keywords: TB mortality; survival distributions; treatment outcomes; Vihiga.

Prevalence, treatment outcomes and determinants of TB/HIV coinfection: A 4-year retrospective review of national tuberculosis registry in a country in a MENA region

“…Among these patients, 672 (2.68%) tested positive for HIV and had TB/HIV coinfection, while the rest of the patients had negative HIV test results. Meanwhile, other studies investigating TB/HIV coinfection have reported different rates of infection, such as a study in Nigeria that reported a 22.50% coinfection rate among TB patients over 5 years [ 30 ], or a study in Kenya, conducted by Wekunda et al that reported a 35.00% coinfection rate [ 31 ]. Another study conducted on HIV/AIDS patients over 18 years of age in Turkey found that 5.30% of these patients had active tuberculosis at the same time [ 32 ], while a study in China, done by Wang et al that examined only EPTB patients reported a 7.00% coinfection rate [ 33 ], compared to 2.00% in the present study.…”