Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program regimens with and without directly observed treatment, short-course: A comparative study of therapeutic cure rate and adverse reactions

OBJECTIVE: To compare the therapeutic cure rate and adverse reactions in the regimens of the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP) with directly observed treatment, short-course (DOTS) and without DOTS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty patients in the DOTS regimen and 50 patients in the non-DOTS regimen were enrolled in the study. All the participants were asked to come regularly for 3 consecutive days for sputum collection, and the sputum samples were examined for acid-fast bacilli. If tuberculosis (TB) was confirmed, the disease status was confirmed through a chest X-ray (PA view). The participants were monitored for adverse events arising from the use of anti-TB drugs for the next 6 months. RESULTS: The TB cure rates for RNTCP with DOTS and RNTCP with non-DOTS were 80% and 66%, respectively. The DOTS therapy had a better cure rate for radiologically positive, sputum-positive cases compared with the non-DOTS regimen group. The non-DOTS treatment regimen had significantly increased numbers of adverse events in the hepatic and hematinic systems. CONCLUSION: The DOTS regimen has higher cure rates and a lower incidence of adverse reactions compared with the non-DOTS regimen.