ArticleBMC infectious diseases2026
Prevalence and determinants of unsuccessful tuberculosis treatment outcomes among children in Northern Ghana: a retrospective review.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionTuberculosis (TB) remains a leading cause of childhood morbidity and mortality, yet evidence on treatment outcomes and associated determinants in Northern Ghana remains limited. This study examined the prevalence, trends, and determinants of unsuccessful treatment outcomes among children with TB at Tamale Teaching Hospital from 2016 to 2024.
methodsA retrospective review of secondary data was conducted among children (< 15 years) diagnosed with TB at Tamale Teaching Hospital from 2016 to 2024. Data were extracted from the National Tuberculosis Programme registers. Treatment outcomes were defined according to WHO guidelines. Modified Poisson regression with robust standard errors was used to examine predictors of unsuccessful treatment outcomes, while logistic regression was performed as a sensitivity analysis. Analyses were conducted using Stata version 16 IC (StataCorp LLC, College Station, TX, USA).
resultsOf 1,842 TB cases, 245 were children, of whom 233 had documented treatment outcomes and were included in the analysis. The median age was 5 years (IQR: 2-10), and 58.4% were males. Pulmonary TB accounted for 63.5% of cases, while 13.7% had TB/HIV coinfection. The treatment success rate was 75.5% (176/233), while 24.5% (57/233) experienced unsuccessful outcomes, including 11.2% deaths and 13.3% loss to follow-up, with no cases of treatment failure. In multivariable analysis, children aged < 1 year (aRR: 3.04; 95% CI: 1.13-8.23), those aged 5-9 years (aRR: 3.51; 95% CI: 1.63-7.57), and rural residents (aRR: 1.70; 95% CI: 1.08-2.66) had a significantly higher risk of unsuccessful treatment outcomes. Sensitivity analysis using logistic regression confirmed these findings, and no significant associations were observed with sex, HIV status, type of patient, or disease classification.
conclusionNearly one in four children experienced unsuccessful TB treatment outcomes, mainly due to death and loss to follow-up. Younger age and rural residence were key predictors of poor treatment outcomes. Strengthening early diagnosis, decentralised care, and targeted adherence support for vulnerable groups is essential to improve outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.