Predictors of unsuccessful tuberculosis treatment outcome in Bhutan: A retrospective study using comprehensive national tuberculosis surveillance data

Abstract

Despite the high burden of tuberculosis in Bhutan, data on treatment outcomes are limited. Using a national TB dataset from 2018 to 2021, provided by the National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory, we conducted a retrospective cohort study to assess treatment outcomes and explore factors associated with unsuccessful TB outcomes. Of the 3,619 patients who received TB treatment, 3,330 had a recorded treatment outcome. Among these, 96.2% (n = 3,202) had a successful outcome (44.4% (n = 1,480) were cured and 51.7% (n = 1,722) completed treatment), and 3.8% (n = 128) had an unsuccessful outcome (2.8% (n = 93) died, 0.7% (n = 23) experienced treatment failure, and 0.4% (n = 12) were lost to follow..