[Telephone surveys for the study of catastrophic costs due to tuberculosis in Colombia: a novel toolPesquisas telefônicas para um estudo de custos catastróficos da tuberculose na Colômbia: uma ferramenta inovadora].

The study of catastrophic costs incurred by people affected by tuberculosis (TB), conducted in Colombia during the COVID-19 pandemic, provided the opportunity to implement telephone surveys for data collection. This constitutes a methodological innovation regarding the standards established by the World Health Organization (WHO) which, for this type of study, usually rely on face-to-face surveys of patients attending health facilities. The study design, objectives, and methodology were adapted from the WHO publication .

Tuberculosis patients face high treatment support costs in Colombia, 2021.

Objective: To estimate the baseline to measure one of the three indicators of the World Health Organization (WHO) End TB strategy (2015-2035), measure the costs incurred by patients affected by tuberculosis (TB) during a treatment episode and estimate the proportion of households facing catastrophic costs (CC) and associated risk factors, in Colombia, 2021.

Material And Methods: A nationally representative cross-sectional survey was conducted among participants on TB treatment in Colombia, using telephone interviews due to the exceptional context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey collected household costs (direct [medical and non-medical out-of-pocket expenses] and indirect) over an episode of TB, loss of time, coping measures, self-reported income, and asset ownership.