Determinants of Default from Pulmonary Tuberculosis Treatment in Kuwait

Table 1

Outcome of pulmonary tuberculosis treatment by sputum smear status (for the years 2004–2006).

Treatment outcome	Smear positive	Smear negative	Total
Cured	318 (44.3)	—	318 (33.4)
Completed	178 (24.8)	180 (76.3)	358 (37.5)
Died	5 (0.7)	0 (0.0)	5 (0.5)
Failed	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)
Defaulted	59 (8.2)	51 (21.6)	110 (11.5)
Left the country	158 (22.0)	5 (2.1)	163 (17.1)
Total registered	718 (100.0)	236 (100.0)	954 (100.0)

Out of the 954 patients who were treated for tuberculosis in the study period, 110 (11.5%) refused treatment or failed to attend the clinic for more than 2 consecutive months, thereby fulfilling the criteria for treatment default. One hundred fifty-eight smear positive TB cases (22.0% of smear positive) were new comer expatriates; they had taken antituberculous medications until sputum is converted, to be noninfectious during transportation, and then deported to their countries. Cure Rate (cured plus completed) for smear positive cases = 88.6% (with exclusion of who left the country) and 69.1% (without exclusion of who left the country).