Directly observed therapy for treating tuberculosis
Directly Observed Therapy involves health workers, community volunteers or family members recording patients taking treatment doses
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) requires at least 6 months of treatment. If treatment is incomplete, patients may not be cured and drug resistance may develop. Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) is a specific strategy, endorsed by the World Health Organization, to improve adherence by requiring health workers, community volunteers or family members to observe and record patients taking each dose.
This review aims to evaluate DOT compared to self-administered therapy in people on treatment for active TB or on prophylaxis to prevent active disease. The authors also compared the effects of different forms of DOT.
This research is supported by the Department for International Development’s Evidence Building and Synthesis Research Programme which is led by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Citation
Jamlick Karumbi, Paul Garner. Directly observed therapy for treating tuberculosis. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Article first published online: 29 May 2015 | DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD003343.pub4