Impact of patient and program factors on default during treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

Setting: In the Philippines, programmatic treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) was initiated by the Tropical Disease Foundation in 1999 and transitioned to the National TB Program in 2006.

Objective: To determine patient and socio-demographic characteristics associated with default, and the impact of patient support measures on default.

Design: Retrospective cohort analysis of 583 MDR-TB patients treated from 1999 to 2006.

Significant decline in the tuberculosis burden in the Philippines ten years after initiating DOTS.

Background: The Philippines ranks ninth among the 22 high-burden countries for tuberculosis (TB).

Objective: To measure the burden of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in the Philippines and determine the impact of the DOTS strategy.

Materials And Methods: The 2007 nationwide TB prevalence survey covered 50 clusters selected by multi-stage stratified random sampling from Metro Manila and other urban and rural areas.