Treatment outcome of HIV-associated tuberculosis in a resource-poor setting

Nigeria is among the countries with the world's highest tuberculosis (TB) burden, and HIV/TB co-infection is an important cause of mortality. We evaluate the treatment outcome of HIV-infected TB patients in Abakaliki, Nigeria. A retrospective cohort study of all TB patients registered at a tertiary hospital between January 2006 and December 2010 was conducted. Of 671 TB patients, 189 (28.2%) were HIV co-infected. Of these, 147 (77.8%) had pulmonary TB and 42 (22.2%) had extra-pulmonary TB. The overall treatment success rate was 52.4% (n = 99) and the defaulted in treatment rate was 30.2% (n = 57). Twenty-one (11.1%) died, and one (0.5%) had treatment failure. Younger age group (<15 years; P = 0.0024) and smear-positive status (P = 0.0056) were independent predictors of successful treatment. TB/HIV co-infection is associated with high mortality and alarming default rates during treatment.