Trends in tuberculosis clinicians' adoption of short-course regimens for latent tuberculosis infection.

Objective: Little is known about regimen choice for latent tuberculosis infection in the United States. Since 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended shorter regimens-12 weeks of isoniazid and rifapentine or 4 months of rifampin-because they have similar efficacy, better tolerability, and higher treatment completion than 6-9 months of isoniazid. The objective of this analysis is to describe frequencies of latent tuberculosis infection regimens prescribed in the United States and assess changes over time.

Methods: Persons at high risk for latent tuberculosis infection or progression to tuberculosis disease were enrolled into an observational cohort study from September 2012-May 2017, tested for tuberculosis infection, and followed for 24 months. This analysis included those with at least one positive test who started treatment.

Results: Frequencies of latent tuberculosis infection regimens and 95% confidence intervals were calculated overall and by important risk groups. Changes in the frequencies of regimens by quarter were assessed using the Mann-Kendall statistic. Of 20,220 participants, 4,068 had at least one positive test and started treatment: 95% non-U.S.-born, 46% female, 12% <15 years old. Most received 4 months of rifampin (49%), 6-9 months of isoniazid (32%), or 12 weeks of isoniazid and rifapentine (13%). Selection of short-course regimens increased from 55% in 2013 to 81% in late 2016 (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Our study identified a trend towards adoption of shorter regimens. Future studies should assess the impact of updated treatment guidelines, which have added 3 months of daily isoniazid and rifampin to recommended regimens.