%0 Journal Article
%T Application of Cox Proportional Hazards Model in Case of Tuberculosis Patients in Selected Addis Ababa Health Centres, Ethiopia
%A Kabtamu Tolosie
%A M. K. Sharma
%J Tuberculosis Research and Treatment
%D 2014
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2014/536976
%X Introduction. Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic infectious disease and mainly caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). It has been one of the major causes of mortality in Ethiopia. The objective of the study was to identify factors that affect the survival of the patients with tuberculosis who started treatment for tuberculosis. Methods. This was a retrospective study in six randomly selected health centres in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The data were obtained from medical records of TB patients registered from September 2012 to August 2013 and treated under directly observed treatment surgery (DOTS) strategy. Kaplan Meier plots, logrank tests, and Wilcoxon tests were used to assess the survival pattern. Cox proportional hazards model for multivariable analysis was discussed. Results. Out of the total 826 registered TB patients, 105 (12.71%) died during the study period and 712 (87.29%) were censored. Based on Kaplan Meier survival curves, logrank test, and Wilcoxon test, it was found that the patients had statistically significant differences in survival experience with respect to age, body weight at initiation of treatment, TB patient category, and HIV status. Multivariable Cox hazards regression analysis revealed that the covariates age, TB patient category, HIV, and age by HIV interaction were significant risk factors associated with death status in TB patients. Conclusion. Deaths of individuals with diseases especially HIV coinfected and nonnew TB cases were high. Therefore, this needs to strengthen the follow-up of patients with TB treatment from the day of anti-TB treatment initiation to completion days. 1. Introduction Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death from a single bacterial species among adults around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that one-third of the world population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, with 9.4 million new cases and 1.3 million deaths in 2009 [1]. Reducing death, eliminating disease, and preventing the development of drug-resistant TB are the major goals of TB control [2]. TB-related death is often referred to as a TB control indicator [3]. Although the developed countries in Europe and North America have well-equipped treatment facilities and provide free and sufficient anti-TB drugs, treatment success rates there are still below WHO¡¯s goal of 85%, which may be because of the relatively high death rates. In those countries, TB cases are found in the relatively higher age group and are associated with comorbidities [4]. In previous studies, even in developed countries with good
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