Table 4. Comparison of MDR-TB cases diagnosed by rpoB mutation versus culture alone.
| Variable | RpoB diagnosed MDR-TB | Culture diagnosed MDR-TB | P-value |
| Number of patients | 14 | 28 | |
| Median (IQR) in-patient days | 51 (16, 81) | 23 (9, 78) | 0.56 |
| Diagnosis and Treatment | |||
| Median (IQR) time to rpoB diagnosis (days) | 9 (8, 26) | NA | |
| Median (IQR) time to culture diagnosis (days) | 50 (38, 71) | 52 (44, 76) | 0.32 |
| Median (IQR) time to starting correct treatment (days) | 8 (1, 18) | 59 (25, 95) | 0.008 |
| Cases (%) where MDR-TB treatment was not started for any reason | 0 (0%) | 10 (36%) | 0.02 |
| Cases (%) where correct treatment never started | 0 (0%) | 5 (18%) | 0.15 |
| Cases (%) died before correct treatment could be instituted | 0 (0%) | 3 (11%) | 0.54 |
| Cases (%) followed up elsewhere before MDR diagnosis | 0 (0%) | 2 (7%) | 0.55 |
| Cases (%) that underwent surgery | 1/14 (7%) | 5/28 (18%) | 0.65 |
| Median (IQR) length of treatment (months) | 19 (18, 24), (n = 10) | 18 (13, 24), (n = 23) | 0.35 |
| Median (IQR) length of follow-up (months) | 7 (0, 17), (n = 11) | 13 (1, 40), (n = 16) | 0.32 |
| Cases (%) that experienced any AE of drug treatment | 7/14 (50%) | 12/26 (46%) | 1.00 |
| Outcome | |||
| Cure | 10 (71%) | 15 (54%) | 0.9 |
| Failure/relapse | 0 (0%) | 1 (4%) | |
| Lost to follow-up | 1 (7%) | 3 (11%) | |
| Transferred to another institution | 1 (7%) | 3 (11%) | |
| Death | 0 (0%) | 3 (11%) | |
| Return to Country of Origin | 2 (14%) | 3 (11%) | |
IQR = interquartile range.
AE = adverse event.