Eligibility for isoniazid preventive therapy in South African gold mines.
SETTING: The "Thibela TB" cluster randomised trial of community-wide isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) to reduce tuberculosis incidence in the South African gold mines. OBJECTIVES: To determine the proportion of participants eligible for IPT and the reasons and risk factors for ineligibility, to inform the scale-up of IPT. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey of participants in intervention clusters (mine shafts) consenting to tuberculosis screening and assessment for eligibility to start IPT. RESULTS: Among 27,126 consenting participants, 94.7% were male, the median age was 41 years, 12.2% reported previous tuberculosis, 0.6% reported ever taking IPT and 2.5% reported currently taking antiretroviral therapy. There were 24,430 (90.1%) assessed as eligible to start IPT, of whom 23,659 started IPT. The most common reasons for ineligibility were having suspected tuberculosis that was subsequently confirmed by a positive smear and/or culture (n=705), excessive alcohol consumption (n=427) and being on tuberculosis treatment at time of initial screen (n=241). Ineligibility was associated with factors including older age, female gender, prior history of tuberculosis and being in "HIV care". However, at least 78% were eligible for IPT in all of these sub-groups. CONCLUSIONS: The vast majority of participants in this community-wide intervention were eligible for IPT.
Item Type | Article |
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ISI | 327143800181 |
Explore Further
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3828258 (OA Location)
- 10.1371/journal.pone.0081376 (DOI)
- 24244741 (PubMed)