Five-year survival rate in successfully treated tuberculosis patients in Mandya district, Karnataka: a cross sectional study

Background: National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) advises two years of follow up of patients cured from any form of tuberculosis. These patients are known to develop long term sequelae. Several studies have reported lower survival rate among recovered TB patients compared to general population. Methods: Cross sectional study of 150 cured/treatment completed TB patients who had completed five years period after treatment, were selected across Mandya district by stratified random sampling method from seven taluks/blocks. Survival and regression analysis was done to determine the outcome and its risk factors. Results: 13.3% of the study participants had succumbed due to various medical reasons. Respiratory and cardiac problems were the most common and 75% of the deaths happened between 3rd and 5th year. Five-year survival rate of the study population was 86.7% and for persons aged more than 60 years it dropped to 62.9%. People with DM, history of smoking, alcoholism was at higher risk of mortality along with age more than 60 years. Mean survival period reduced by 7.5 months, 6.8 months, 8.2 months among diabetic patients, smokers and alcoholics respectively. Eight participants had developed tuberculosis again and two of them were drug resistant cases. Binary logistic regression identified higher probability of death in patients with DM and those consuming alcohol. Conclusions: Mortality among cured / treatment completed TB patients is 13.3%. Five-year survival rate of this population was 86.7%. DM and alcoholism were important predictors of mortality.