Ensuring continuous TB treatment across Asian borders

• Main Authors: A. Ohkado (Author), S. Lee (Author), A. Yoshie (Author), K. Sugiura (Author), S. Kasuya (Author), K. Uchimura (Author), A. Querri (Author), A. P. Nguyen (Author), I. A. Prayogi (Author), K. Doi (Author), L. Kawatsu (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: The Union, 2024-03-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

BACKGROUND: Mid-treatment cross-border migration of patients with TB increases the risk of treatment interruption. OBJECTIVE: To establish a cross-border referral process for patients with TB in Japan, and enhance their access to health facilities and treatment outcomes. DESIGN: This prospective cohort study describes and assesses the process of foreign-born patients with TB who returned to their home countries during treatment, focusing on their access to healthcare facilities and treatment outcomes. RESULTS: We enrolled 135 foreign-born patients with TB, and confirmed that 112 (83.0%) were referred to and accessed healthcare facilities after returning to their home countries. Of 102 patients due to complete treatment as of July 2023, 87 (85.3%) completed their treatment. We did not identify significant differences in the treatment success rate among patient characteristics, except between the patients with confirmed access to a healthcare facility and those without (P < 0.001). We confirmed that 49/87 (56.3%) patients had completed treatment with official data. CONCLUSION: The access and treatment success rates of the cross-bordered patients with TB from Japan were >80%; however, we should further improve this proportion by confirming the treatment outcomes with official data.

Item Description

2220-8372
10.5588/pha.23.0052