%0 Journal Article
%T Secondary Data Analysis of Tuberculosis Deaths in Bulawayo Province, Zimbabwe, 2016-2019
%A Tshebukani Mzingaye Moyo
%A Edwin Sibanda
%A Notion Tafara Gombe
%A Tsitsi Patience Juru
%A Emmanuel Govha
%A Maurice Omondi
%A Addmore Chadambuka
%A Mufuta Tshimanga
%J Open Journal of Epidemiology
%P 57-67
%@ 2165-7467
%D 2022
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/ojepi.2022.121005
%X <strong>Background:</strong> Tuberculosis is a leading cause of death globally, and the third leading cause of death in Zimbabwe. Death from any cause following a diag-nosis of tuberculosis is classified as a tuberculosis death. Bulawayo Province reported high tuberculosis death rates from 15.3% in 2016 to 14.2% in 2019 against a threshold of 5%. We analyzed tuberculosis deaths for Bulawayo Province to characterize patients dying and to make recommendations for im-proving treatment outcomes for susceptible tuberculosis cases. <strong>Methods:</strong> A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. We analyzed all (N = 469) records of tuberculosis deaths from 19/19 Bulawayo tuberculosis diagnosing centers from 01 January 2016 to 31 December 2019. Microsoft<sup><span style=\"white-space:nowrap;\"><span style=\"white-space:nowrap;\">&amp;#174;</span></span></sup> Excel 2007 was used to generate graphs and Stata<sup><span style=\"white-space:nowrap;\"><span style=\"white-space:nowrap;\">&amp;#174;</span></span></sup> version 17 was used to conduct chi-square tests for trends. <strong>Results:</strong> Males accounted for 278/469 (59.3%) of the deaths. The median age of death was 40 years (Q<sub>1</sub> = 33: Q<sub>3</sub> = 51). The proportion of TB deaths increased from 63/114 (55%) in 2016 to 57/90 (63%) in 2019 for males (p &lt; 0.01). The majority of deaths 278/469 (59.3%) occurred in the intensive phase of treatment and anemia was a co-morbid condition in only 44/469 (9.4%) of the tuberculosis deaths. Testing for anemia was not rou-tinely done. <strong>Conclusion:</strong> High death rates particularly in the intensive phase, could be attributed to sub-optimal clinical care. Tuberculosis programs should work towards adopting differentiated care models for tuberculosis patients and developing algorithms for patients at high risk of death.
%K Tuberculosis Death
%K Secondary Data Analysis
%K Bulawayo Province
%K Zimbabwe
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=115056