Evaluation and determinants of outcome of tuberculosis treatment.

The most important determinant of the outcome of treatment of tuberculosis (TB) patients is the access that they have to reliable diagnosis and treatment services organized within a national tuberculosis programme (NTP) as part of DOTS, the name of the WHO-recommended TB control strategy. Accurate evaluation of treatment outcomes requires inclusion of all patients diagnosed, including those not registered; part of routine NTP management should therefore involve regular cross-checks between laboratory diagnostic registers and NTP treatment registers. Finally, control services should take into consideration the type of TB, the presence of concomitant infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and patient characteristics.