Modelling the potential impact of adherence technologies on tuberculosis in India

Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2020 May 1;24(5):526-533. doi: 10.5588/ijtld.19.0472.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: For patients taking standard first-line tuberculosis treatment, missing 10% or more of their doses increases the risk of relapse six-fold. Digital technologies offer new approaches to adherence support for TB patients. We estimated the potential impact of new adherence technologies in India.METHOD: We developed a mathematical model of TB transmission dynamics in India, capturing the independent effects of missed doses and treatment default on post-treatment recurrence. We simulated the impact of interventions to address both missed doses and treatment default in the public and private healthcare sector.RESULTS: Adherence interventions, if deployed optimally in the public sector alone, would reduce cumulative TB incidence by 7.3% (95% credible intervals [CrI] 4.7-11) between 2020 and 2030, and by 16% (95% CrI 11-23) if also deployed in the private sector. This impact is roughly proportional to the effectiveness of the interventions. Reducing missed doses reduced incidence by 12% (95% CrI 7.0-18), while reducing treatment default reduced incidence by 7.9% (95% CrI 3.2-13).CONCLUSION: Minimising missed doses is at least as important as promoting treatment completion. Our results suggest that emerging technologies to improve treatment adherence could have a substantial impact on TB incidence and mortality in India.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • India / epidemiology
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Private Sector
  • Tuberculosis* / drug therapy
  • Tuberculosis* / epidemiology