Comparing early treatment outcomes of MDR-TB in decentralised and centralised settings in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

SETTING: In KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, a setting endemic for tuberculosis (TB) and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), prolonged hospitalisation for the treatment of the growing number of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) patients is neither possible nor effective. OBJECTIVE: To compare early treatment outcomes in patients with MDR-TB with and without HIV co-infection at four decentralised rural sites with a central urban referral hospital. DESIGN: This is an operational, prospective cohort study of patients between 1 July 2008 and 30 November 2009, where culture conversion, time to culture conversion, survival and predictors of these outcomes were analysed. RESULTS: Of 860 patients with MDR-TB, 419 were at the decentralised sites and 441 at the central hospital. Overall, 71% were HIV co-infected. In the 17-month study period, there was a higher proportion of culture conversion at the decentralised sites compared with the centralised hospital (54% vs. 24%, P < 0.001, OR 3.76, 95 %CI 2.81-5.03). The median time to treatment initiation was significantly shorter at the decentralised sites compared with the centralised hospital (72 vs. 93 days, P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in survival following treatment initiation. CONCLUSION: In this study, early treatment outcomes suggest that decentralised care for MDR-TB patients is superior to that in a centralised setting.