Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Public Health Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sungai Buloh Campus, Jalan Hospital, 47000, Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Public Health Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sungai Buloh Campus, Jalan Hospital, 47000, Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia. nurhuda169@gmail.com
  • 3 Department of Pharmaceutical Life Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 4 Sector of TB/Leprosy, Disease Control Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Putrajaya, Malaysia
  • 5 Institute for Public Health, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam, Malaysia
  • 6 Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Malaysia
  • 7 Selangor Health State Department, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Shah Alam, Malaysia
  • 8 Institute for Medical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam, Malaysia
BMC Public Health, 2020 Dec 10;20(1):1903.
PMID: 33302908 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-020-10005-y

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) among children remains a significant public health problem in many parts of the world. The objective of this study was to describe the characteristics of TB patients and to determine the predictors of treatment success among children in Malaysia.

METHODS: Secondary data from MyTB version 2.1, a national database, were analysed using R version 3.6.1. Descriptive analysis and multivariable logistic regression were conducted to identify treatment success and its determinants.

RESULTS: In total, 3630 cases of TB cases were registered among children in Malaysia between 2013 and 2017. The overall treatment success rate was 87.1% in 2013 and plateaued between 90.1 and 91.4% from 2014 to 2017. TB treatment success was positively associated with being a Malaysian citizen (aOR = 3.43; 95% CI = 2.47, 4.75), being a child with BCG scars (aOR = 1.93; 95% CI = 1.39, 2.68), and being in the older age group (aOR = 1.06; 95% CI = 1.03, 1.09). Having HIV co-infection (aOR = 0.31; 95% CI = 0.16, 0.63), undergoing treatment in public hospitals (aOR = 0.38; 95% CI =0.25, 0.58), having chest X-ray findings of advanced lesion (aOR = 0.48; 95% CI = 0.33, 0.69), having EPTB (aOR = 0.58; 95% CI = 0.41, 0.82) and having sputum-positive PTB (aOR = 0.58; 95% CI = 0.43, 0.79) were negatively associated with TB treatment success among children.

CONCLUSIONS: The overall success rate of treatment among children with TB in Malaysia has achieved the target of 90% since 2014 and remained plateaued until 2017. The socio-demographic characteristics of children, place of treatment, and TB disease profile were associated with the likelihood of TB treatment success among children. The treatment success rate can be increased by strengthening contact tracing activities and promoting early identification targeting the youngest children and non-Malaysian children.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.