‘Transfer out’ tuberculosis patients: treatment outcomes after cross-checking registers, 2012–2013, Lusaka, Zambia
Objective: To assess the actual treatment outcomes of ‘transfer out’ (TO) cases at a diagnostic centre in Lusaka, in the third and fourth quarters of 2012, and to see the impact of this cross-check in treatment success rates (TSR) in 2013 and early 2014.
Design and method: In this retrospective cohort study, treatment outcomes for new bacteriologically positive tuberculosis (TB) cases referred from the diagnostic centre were reviewed and compared with those at the receiving treatment units.
Results: Of 49 (58%) cases referred to three treatment units, the treatment outcomes of nine had to be updated at the diagnostic centre, which reduced the proportion of TO cases from 17.6% to 11.8% and increased the TSR to 70.6% from 64.7%.
Conclusion: The review and cross-checking of the TB registers at the diagnostic and treatment units led to a significant reduction in non-assessed cases, suggesting that the TB registers in the diagnostic and treatment units should be cross-checked regularly. There is also need for a complementary intervention to reduce the proportion of TOs associated with high loss to follow-up and non-evaluated TO rates.
Keywords: epidemiology; transfer out; treatment outcomes; tuberculosis
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association–Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia 2: Lusaka District Community Health Office, Lusaka, Zambia
Publication date: 21 June 2016
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