Rifampicin-Resistant Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Cases in Selected Hospitals in Western Oromia, Ethiopia: Cross-Sectional Retrospective Study

PURPOSE: With the recommendation of World Health Organization (WHO) and as per the Ethiopian National Implementation Guideline, GeneXpert is used for rapid diagnosis of rifampicin (RIF)-resistant multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) from the suspected TB patients; however, there were limited findings in Ethiopia particularly in the study area showing the magnitude of RIF-resistant MDR-TB and related factors among suspected TB cases. Hence, we aimed to assess resistance to RIF as a biomarker for the detection of MDR-TB cases from the suspected TB patients in selected hospitals, Western Oromia, Ethiopia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We have conducted a cross-sectional review on 2300 registered GeneXpert data as clinically suspected TB cases in three governmental hospitals, Western Oromia, Ethiopia, between October 2015 and April 2016 to assess resistance to RIF as a biomarker for the detection of MDR-TB cases. Trained data collectors enumerated the data using pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires from the Gene Xpert records found in the registration logbook available at each hospital laboratories. Following checking the data for completeness, we have cleaned and entered our data into SPSS version 20 to compute different analyses. P-value of ≤0.05 was taken as statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 2300 TB suspected cases were included in the study. The overall prevalence of TB diagnosed by the GeneXpert assay was 21.3% (491/2300). In all TB confirmed cases, RIF-resistant TB accounted for 25.9% (127/491) which expressed rpoB gene mutations. Sex (being male), age (within 16–30 age group), patient category (relapse, loss to follow-up, treatment failure and had MDR-TB contact) were significantly associated with rifampicin-resistant TB. Relapse patient was 20 times more likely to develop MDR-TB when compared to the new patient (P-value= 0.01, COR = 20.0, 95%C.I = 17.5–42.5). CONCLUSION: The rifampicin-resistant TB is prevalent in all age groups. The strong association and high prevalence of RIF-resistant TB to failure after treatment in this study require more attention towards improving the treatment to minimize evolving of the MDR-TB cases.