Community-Based Tuberculosis Preventive Treatment Among Child and Adolescent Household Contacts in Ethiopia

There are limited studies on the community-based outcomes of tuberculosis (TB) preventive treatment (TPT) among children and adolescent contacts <15 years in Ethiopia. Our objective was to assess TPT uptake and completion rates among eligible under-15-year-old TB household contacts through an enhanced community-based model of interventions. The study was conducted between July 2021 and June 2022 in twenty primary health care units in the Sidama and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) regions. A total of 4367 (99.2%) household contacts of 1069 bacteriologically confirmed PTB index cases were symptomatically screened for TB by trained health extension workers (HEWs) at the community level. A total of 696 (15.9%) symptomatic contacts were identified, of which 694 (99.7%) were evaluated for TB, resulting in 60 (8.6%) TB cases. A total of 1567 (95.3%) asymptomatic children and adolescent contacts <15 years of age were initiated on TPT (88.8%) at health posts in the community. After the interventions, there was a significant increase in contact screening coverage (95.6% vs. 99.2%, Odds Ratio (OR), 5.54; 95% Confidence interval (CI), 2.93-10.13) and TPT uptake (81.7% vs. 95.4%; OR, 4.67; 95% CI, 2.54-8.23). The TPT completion rate was also 98.1% (of 1567). The TPT completion rate at health posts in the community was higher than the rate at health centers (99.4% vs. 88.0%; OR, 20.95; 95% CI, 8.97-52.71). TPT uptake and completion in children and adolescent contacts could be improved remarkably with the implementation of an enhanced community-based model of intervention in high-TB-burden districts.