Tuberculosis Treatment Outcomes at a Referral Center in Dakar, Senegal: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis remains a major public health concern in Senegal, and evaluation of treatment outcomes is necessary to assess programme performance. This study evaluated first-line anti-tuberculosis treatment outcomes at the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Department of Fann University Hospital in Dakar. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted using records of patients registered for tuberculosis treatment between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2023. Sociodemographic, clinical, bacteriological, and therapeutic data were extracted from medical records and treatment registers. Data were entered using Microsoft Excel 2016 and analysed using SPSS version 20.0. Results: Overall, 102 patients were included. The median age was 33 years, and 63.7% were male. Most patients (59.8%) were from Dakar. Pulmonary tuberculosis accounted for 51% of cases, and 38% of patients were HIV-positive. Tuberculosis was bacteriologically confirmed in 46.1% of patients; among confirmed cases, GeneXpert was used in 76.6%. The standard six-month regimen was administered to 86.3% of patients. Treatment was completed by 63.7%, and 12.7% were cured, giving a treatment success rate of 76.5%. Six deaths, one treatment failure, one loss to follow-up, and 16 unevaluated outcomes were recorded. Conclusion: Treatment success was achieved in approximately three-quarters of patients. Improved completeness of treatment registers, timely diagnostic confirmation, and strengthened follow-up are needed to reduce unevaluated outcomes and support continuity of tuberculosis care.