Copyright
©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Completion of 6-mo isoniazid preventive treatment among eligible under six children: A cross-sectional study, Lagos, Nigeria
Victor Abiola Adepoju, Ademola Adelekan, Aderonke Agbaje, Femi Quaitey, Tobi Ademola-Kay, Ann Uduak Udoekpo, Olusola Daniel Sokoya
Victor Abiola Adepoju, Department of HIV and Infectious Diseases, Jhpiego Nigeria, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja 900918, Nigeria
Ademola Adelekan, Department of Research, Bluegate Research Institute, Ibadan 211271, Oyo State, Nigeria
Aderonke Agbaje, Clinical Services, Institute of Human Virology of Nigeria, Abuja 900918, Nigeria
Femi Quaitey, Department of HIV and Infectious Diseases, Jhpiego Nigeria, Uyo 520108, AkwaIbom, Nigeria
Tobi Ademola-Kay, Adolescent and Youth Care, Youth Development and Empowerment Initiative, Lagos 23401, Nigeria
Ann Uduak Udoekpo, Monitoring and Evaluation, Jhpiego Nigeria, Uyo 520108, AkwaIbom, Nigeria
Olusola Daniel Sokoya, Lagos State Tuberculosis, Buruli Ulcer and Leprosy Control Program, Ikeja 100001, Lagos, Nigeria
Author contributions: Adepoju VA and Adelekan A designed the study; Adepoju VA, Sokoya OD and Adelekan A drafted the manuscript; Agbaje A, Ademola-Kay T, Quaitey F, and Udoekpo A revised it critically for important intellectual content; Agbaje A, Quaitey F, Udoekpo A and Sokoya OD contributed to the analysis and interpretation of data; Adepoju VA is the corresponding author of this manuscript, gave final approval of the manuscript submitted.
Institutional review board statement: The study is a retrospective review and abstraction of data from register with no human subject involvement, hence ethical review was not indicated. Informed consent statement: Informed consent was taken from mothers of children involved in this retrospective study. Permission was also received from the Lagos State TB, Buruli Ulcer and Leprosy Control Program.
Informed consent statement: Verbal consent was taken from the parent/caregiver of the children before placing them on INH.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset are available from the corresponding author on request.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See:
https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Victor Abiola Adepoju, MBChB, MSc, Doctor, Senior Editor, Department of HIV and Infectious Diseases, Jhpiego Nigeria, Federal Capital Territory, Plot 971, Rueben Okoya Crescent, Wuye, Abuja 900918, Nigeria. schrodinga05@yahoo.com
Received: October 6, 2022
Peer-review started: October 6, 2022
First decision: October 27, 2022
Revised: November 15, 2022
Accepted: December 23, 2022
Article in press: December 23, 2022
Published online: January 6, 2023
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Isoniazid (INH) has been proven to be a useful treatment of latent tuberculosis (TB) but its implementation at country level is poor, especially among under-6 children where it is recommended in Nigeria. Even when children are commenced on INH, its completion is rarely investigated.
Research motivation
Completion of INH is necessary to prevent active TB and the development of INH-resistant TB.
Research objectives
This study aimed to determine the completion of isoniazid preventive treatment among under six children in contact with adults with TB and associated factors under routine programmatic use in Lagos, Nigeria.
Research methods
Retrospective review of INH treatment records of 262 children initiated on a 6-mo INH across 32 private facilities in Lagos, Nigeria.
Research results
Only 155 (59.2%) of the 262 participants initiated on INH completed the six-month treatment. Cumulatively, 107 (41.0%) children were lost to follow-up at the end of the sixth month. Of the cumulative 107 loss to follow-up while on INH, largest drop-offs were reported at the end of month 2, 52 (49%) followed by 20 (19%), 17 (16%), 11 (10.2%) and 7 (6.5%) at months 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively. The analysis showed that there was no significant association between age, gender, type of facility and completion of INH treatment (P > 0.005).
Research conclusions
The huge drop-offs in the first 2 mo of INH calls for innovative strategies such as the use of 60-day INH calendar that would facilitate reminder and early engagement of children on INH and their caregivers in care and across the entire period of treatment.
Research perspectives
The study added to the body of knowledge on INH completion among eligible children in Nigeria. The findings will alert policy makers on the burden of INH drop-offs and the timing of any interventions that could address retention in care, particularly within the first 2 mo of initiating INH. Future qualitative studies need to unravel actual reasons for these huge loses while on INH.
