Ljiljana Simonovska*, Biljana
Ilievska-Popovska
Institute for Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis, Faculty of Medicine, Ss Cyril
and Methodius University of Skopje, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
BACKGROUND: The successful treatment of patients with active
tuberculosis is one of the priorities in the Tuberculosis Control Programs.
AIM: The aim was to establish whether there was a statistically
significant difference in the treatment outcome in patients with
tuberculosis who began their initial treatment phase and/or pursued it as
inpatient, as opposed to patients with tuberculosis who underwent their
entire treatment regime as outpatient. Moreover, our goal was to determine
whether there is a statistically significant difference in the outcome from
the treatment between patients with tuberculosis who were hospitalized up to
one month, two months, or more than two months.
MATERIALS AND METHOD: The study includes 355 patients, divided into
two groups. The first group, which consists of 219 patients, began their
initial treatment phase as inpatient, and then they continued the treatment
as outpatient. The second group, 136 patients, underwent their entire
treatment as outpatient. The treatment outcome is determined with every
patient (cured, treatment completed, treatment default, treatment failed,
died, treatment in progress). For the statistical data analysis and for
establishing the significance of the findings regarding the differences
between the two groups we used the Pearson Chi-Square Test and the Yates
Corrected Test.
RESULTS: The statistical analysis with the Pearson Chi-Square Test
showed that the treatment outcome does not significantly depend on the model
of treatment (p = 0.31). The statistical data analysis showed that there is
no statistically significant difference in the achievement of conversion of
the bacterial result of the sputum at the end of the initial phase of
treatment regarding the studied groups (p = 0.89). The statistical data
analysis showed that the length of inpatient treatment affects the outcome
of the treatment and that the difference is statistically highly significant
(p < 0.00005).
CONCLUSION: There are no statistically significant differences in the
sputum conversion and the treatment outcome among inpatient/outpatient with
tuberculosis or outpatient only; however, the length of inpatient treatment
is statistically significant regarding its effect on the treatment outcome.
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Citation: Simonovska Lj, Ilievska-Popovska B.
Comparison of Results from Inpatient and Outpatient Treatment of
Tuberculosis in Republic of Macedonia. OA Maced J Med Sci. http://dx.doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2015.050
Key words: tuberculosis; outcome; sputum conversion; cured; died;
Republic of Macedonia.
*Correspondence: Prof. Dr. Ljiljana Simonovska. Institute for Lung
Diseases and Tuberculosis, Department for Lung diseases, st. Majka Tereza
No. 17, 1000 Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. E-Mail: damjanovska25@hotmail.com
Received: 30-Mar-2015; Revised: 22-Apr-2015; Accepted: 23-Apr-2015; Online
first: 30-Apr-2015
Copyright: © 2015 Ljiljana Simonovska, Biljana Ilievska-Popovska.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are
credited.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing
interests exist.