The treatment of latent tuberculosis infection: Province based practice and problems

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the treatment indications and compliance of individuals who underwent preventive treatment for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in Turkey at the provincial level. Material and Methods: The data were collected retrospectively from records of 1,147 tuberculosis (TB) patients who have been followed-up in Elazığ TB Dispensary between the years 2005 and 2013. Results: Preventive treatment of LTBI was applied to 1,264 registered individuals for the indication of various factors. The causative factors for ini-tiating preventive therapy were the history of contact with TB patients (55.1%), immunosuppression (28.2%), tuberculin skin test (TST) positivity (8.2%), TST conversion (0.1%) and for other reasons (8.4%). Of the patients, 66.3% had completed preventive treatment with success, however, 33.4% have abandoned their therapies. All of the patients have used isoniazid as preventive drug treatment. Conclusion: Preventive treatment for LTBI was applied most frequently with the indication of contact history with TB and the second indication was immunocompromised patients either by getting the drug or having a disease that is susceptible to TB infection. Unfortunately, the results of the study suggested that rates of completed treatment were not high enough.