Adaptation of WHO's generic tuberculosis patient cost instrument for a longitudinal study in Africa.

We describe the process of creating a longitudinal instrument and its application to the TB Sequel study, an ongoing multi-country, multi-center observational cohort study. We adapted the cross-sectional WHO generic TB patient cost survey instrument for the longitudinal study design of TB Sequel and the local context in each study country (South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, and The Gambia). The generic instrument was adapted for use at enrollment (start of TB treatment; Day 0) and at 2, 6, 12 and 24 months after enrollment, time points intended to capture costs incurred for diagnosis, during treatment, at the end of treatment, and during long-term follow-up once treatment has been completed. These time points make the adapted version suitable for use in patients with either drug-sensitive or drug-resistant TB. Using the adapted tool provides the opportunity to repeat measures and make comparisons over time, describe changes that extend beyond treatment completion, and link cost survey data to treatment outcomes and post-TB sequelae. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT032516 August 1196, 2017. Abbreviations: DOTS: Directly observed treatment, short-course; DR-TB: Drug-resistant tuberculosis; MDR-TB: Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis; NTP: National Tuberculosis Programme; TB: Tuberculosis; USD: United States Dollar; WHO: World Health Organization. PMID: 33491593 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Global Health Action - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Glob Health Action Source Type: research