Priority areas for the control of tuberculosis treatment abandonment in Recife, Brazil

Tuberculosis is among the world's high morbidity and mortality infectious diseases. The discontinuity of treatment is a challenge to be faced in order to reduce cases of drug resistance and mortality. The objective of this study was to identify priority areas for the control of cases of tuberculosis (TB) treatment abandonment in the city of Recife. This was an ecological study, carried out with new cases of TB diagnosed in Recife and registered in the Information System for Notifiable Diseases between 2012 and 2014. The outcome variable was the average proportion of the abandonment of TB treatment by census sector. To compose this variable, all addresses of new cases of tuberculosis and those of treatment abandonment in the investigated three-year period were geocoded. Moran's Global Index was used to assess spatial autocorrelation. 641 abandonment cases were recorded and geocoded. The value of the Global Moran Index was 0.0313816 (p=0.03) and, through the Moran Map, 153 sectors with spatial statistical significance were identified, of these 43 were high priority for health interventions distributed in 21 neighborhoods. Priority areas were identified for monitoring adherence to tuberculosis treatment. Due to the lower level of available territorial sectors, similar populations, and socioeconomic dynamics among residents, the use of the census sectors allows health interventions to be carried out to improve the quality of care for patients and to reduce the unfavorable outcomes while considering public resources.