Scientific Publication

Relationship between nutritional support and tuberculosis treatment outcomes in West Bengal, India

author(s) Samuel, B. - Volkmann, T. - Cornelius, S. - Mukhopadhay, S.
from UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
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themes
regions
  • Southern Asia
  • Asia
  • World
  • Northern Europe
  • Europe
citation

Blesson Samuel, Tyson Volkmann, Sushma Cornelius, Sugata Mukhopadhay, MejoJose, Kaushik Mitra, Ajay M. V. Kumar, John E. Oeltmann, Sidhajyoti Parija , Aslesh Ottapura Prabhakaran, Patrick K. Moonan,Vineet K. Chadha (2016) Relationship between nutritional support and tuberculosis treatment outcomes in West Bengal, India. Journal of Tuberculosis Research Vol. 04 No.04 DOI: 10.4236/jtr.2016.44023

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Abstract

Introduction Poverty and poor nutrition are associated with the risk of developing tuberculosis (TB). Socioeconomic factors may interfere with anti-tuberculosis treatment compliance and its outcome. We examined whether providing nutritional support (monthly supply of rice and lentil beans) to TB patients who live below the poverty line was associated with TB treatment outcome. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of sputum smear-positive pulmonary TB patients living below the poverty line (income of Results Of 173 TB patients provided nutritional support, 15 (9%) had unsuccessful treatment outcomes, while 84 (21%) of the 400 not provided nutrition support had unsuccessful treatment outcomes (p Conclusion Under programmatic conditions, monthly rations of rice and lentils were associated with lower risk of unsuccessful treatment outcome among impoverished TB patients. Given the relatively small financial commitment needed per patient ($10 per patient per month), the national TB programme should consider scaling up nutritional support among TB patients living below the poverty line. This research was supported by the UK Department for International Development’s Operational Research Capacity Building Programme led by the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union)

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