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. 1996 Aug;86(8 Pt 1):1146–1149. doi: 10.2105/ajph.86.8_pt_1.1146

Directly observed therapy for tuberculosis: the Harlem Hospital experience, 1993.

W el-Sadr 1, F Medard 1, V Berthaud 1, V Barthaud 1
PMCID: PMC1380628  PMID: 8712276

Abstract

OBJECTIVES. A directly observed therapy program was established at Harlem Hospital, New York, NY, in 1993 to promote high tuberculosis treatment completion rates. METHODS. The Harlem program used an on-site surrogate family model. Treatment completion rate, visit adherence rate, human immuno-deficiency virus seroprevalence, and time to sputum culture conversion were assessed. RESULTS. Out of 145 enrolled patients with suspected and confirmed tuberculosis, 95 (92 confirmed and 3 suspected) continued treatment. The visit adherence rate was 91.1 +/- 7.9%, with one patient (1%) lost to follow-up. CONCLUSION. High rates of treatment completion and visit adherence were achieved because of unique program characteristics. Thus, directly observed therapy is advocated as a means of ensuring treatment completion.

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Selected References

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