sputum conversion

Tuberculosis is a major infective disease affecting Indian population with high socio-economic impact. For eradication of tuberculosis and successful implementation of Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program – Directly Observed Treatment Short Course RNTCP- DOTS program regular assessment of the condition is imperative.The aim was to determine  the sputum carried out in District Tubercular Centre (DTC), Mangalore. The data of all patients registered from January 2011 to December 2011 were examined.The study was conducted on sample population of 297 patients. Of these, 183 (61.6%) patients were NSP cases and 114 (38.4%) patients were retreatment cases. The mean age of patients in category 1 and category 2 was 40.86± 18.20 and 42.49 ± 13.32 respectively. Males constituted 71.2 % and females were 28.8% of population. No significant difference in distribution with respect to gender (x2 = 1.327, p = 0.249) and residential area (x2 = 1.290, p = 0.256) in each categories. There is significant difference in distribution in category 1 and category 2 with mean age in years in different age category(x2 = 21.521, p = 0.001). Of 183 patients in NSP, 137 patients converted to negative at the end of the 2 month intensive phase with conversion rate of 86.33% and 21 patients converted to negative at the end of extended intensive phase with conversion rate of 67.54 %.The sputum conversion rate was comparable to other study but was less than national average. Conversion rate is less in category 2 compared to category 1 showing the importance of treatment completion in patients with TB. Majority of patients belong to a productive age group between 21-60 years indicating the impact of the disease on socio-economy of patient as well as on the country.