Abstract:

Objective To understand the treatment completeness and its influencing factors of 12-weeks’preventive therapy among close contacts of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients with latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection (LTBI). Methods A total of 989 close contacts of PTB patients with LTBI aged 5-64 who should finish their preventive therapy with informed consent were enrolled in the “13th Five-Years Plan” National Science and Technology Major Project-Intervention on latent infected close contacts of TB patients from August 30th, 2018 to July 30th, 2020. General demographic data, medication records, adverse reactions, and reasons of discontinued therapy were collected. Factors influencing the completeness of treatment was analyzed with Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression model. Results Among 989 close contacts, 905 completed treatment, with a treatment completion rate of 91.51%. Among close contacts who did not complete their treatment, main reasons for discontinued therapy were “refusal to continue treatment” (41 cases, 48.81%) and “adverse reactions” (31 cases, 36.90%). Discontinued therapy mostly occurred in the first 2 months after treatment (72 cases, 85.71%). Multivariate regression showed that aged 50-64 years old (OR=3.71;95%CI:1.72-8.02), smoking (OR=1.79;95%CI:1.02-3.13) and local TB designated hospitals responsible for supervising preventive therapy (OR=4.51;95%CI:1.91-10.65) were risk factors for discontinuing medication. Conclusion Close contacts of PTB patients with LTBI had a high treatment completion rate for the 12-week regimen, but they were likely to discontinue therapy and have adverse reactions at early stage of treatment. Treatment completion rate was affected by age, smoking and institution responsible for supervising preventive treatment in county/district.

Key words: Tuberculosis, Protective agents, Contact tracing, Factor Analysis,statistical