Impact of mobile teams on tuberculosis treatment outcomes, Riyadh Region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2013-2015

• Authors: Sami Alqahtani, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Abdulhameed Kashkary, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Abdullah Asiri, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Heba Kamal, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Jose Binongo, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Kenneth Castro, Emory University; Scott McNabb, Emory University
• Journal Title: Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
• Volume: Volume 7
• Publisher: Atlantis Press | 2018-03-01, Pages S29-S33
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jegh.2017.09.005
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Rehabilitation and Therapy; Health Sciences, Epidemiology; Health Sciences, Public Health; Health Sciences, Health Care Management
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Directly observed therapy; Mobile teams; Saudi Arabia; Tuberculosis; Directly observed therapy

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of the tuberculosis (TB) mobile teams on treatment outcomes in Riyadh Region by comparing patients who received treatment under mobile teams and those who did not, from 2013 to 2015. This was a retrospective descriptive study using National TB Control and Prevention Program data from 2013 to 2015 from Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Descriptive analyses were used to summarize characteristics of TB case-patients served by mobile teams and those who were not served. The χ2 test measured the significant differences between mobile-served and non-mobile-served case-patients. Exposure was whether or not the TB case-patient was under the care of the mobile team; the outcome of interest was whether or not treatment was successful, defined as treatment completed and cured. We found that the ratio of treatment success among mobile team case-patients was 1.28 greater than among those not served by mobile teams. The χ2 test showed a statistically significant finding (probability ratio = 1.28; 95% confidence interval = 1.21–1.35, p < 0.01). Mobile teams increased the treatment success rate to 92%, compared to 71.77% among those not served by mobile teams. This study shows that community mobilization of mobile teams is an effective strategy to enhance TB treatment, reduced mortality and loss to follow-up and improve TB treatment outcomes.