The magnitude of unfavorable tuberculosis treatment outcomes and their relation with baseline undernutrition and sustained undernutrition among children receiving tuberculosis treatment in central Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: One of the global key indicators for monitoring the implementation of the World Health Organization's End Tuberculosis (TB) Strategy is the treatment outcome rate.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess the magnitude of unfavorable treatment outcomes and estimate their relationship with baseline undernutrition and sustained undernutrition among children receiving TB treatment in central Ethiopia.

METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included children treated for drug-susceptible TB between June 2014 and February 2022. The study comprised children aged 16 and younger who were treated in 32 randomly selected healthcare facilities. A log-binomial model was used to compute adjusted risk ratios (aRR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS: Of 640 children, 42 (6.6%; 95% CI = 4.8-8.8%) had an unfavorable TB treatment outcomes, with 31 (73.8%; 95% CI = 58.0-86.1%) occurring during the continuation phase of TB treatment. We confirmed that baseline undernutrition (aRR = 2.68; 95% CI = 1.53-4.71), age less than 10 years (aRR = 2.69; 95% CI = 1.56-4.61), HIV infection (aRR = 2.62; 95% CI = 1.50-4.59), and relapsed TB (aRR = 3.19; 95% CI = 1.79-4.71) were independent predictors of unfavorable TB treatment outcomes. When we looked separately at children who had been on TB treatment for two months or more, we found that sustained undernutrition (aRR = 3.76; 95% CI = 1.90-7.43), age below ten years (aRR = 2.60; 95% CI = 1.31-5.15), and HIV infection (aRR = 2.26; 95% CI = 1.11-4.59) remained predictors of unfavorable outcomes, just as they had in the first two months. However, the effect of relapsed TB became insignificant (aRR = 2.81; 95% CI = 0.96-8.22) after the first two months TB treatment.

CONCLUSIONS: The magnitude of unfavorable TB treatment outcomes among children in central Ethiopia met the World Health Organization's 2025 milestone. Nearly three-quarters of unfavorable TB treatment outcomes occurred during the continuation phase of TB treatment. Baseline undernutrition, sustained undernutrition, younger age, HIV infection, and relapsed TB were found to be independent predictors of unfavorable TB treatment outcomes among children receiving TB treatment in central Ethiopia.