Has the DOTS strategy improved case finding or treatment success? An empirical assessment.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Nearly fifteen years after the start of WHO's DOTS strategy, tuberculosis remains a major global health problem. Given the lack of empirical evidence that DOTS reduces tuberculosis burden, considerable debate has arisen about its place in the future of global tuberculosis control efforts. An independent evaluation of DOTS, one of the most widely-implemented and longest-running interventions in global health, is a prerequisite for meaningful improvements to tuberculosis control efforts, including WHO's new Stop TB Strategy. We investigate the impact of the expansion of the DOTS strategy on tuberculosis case finding and treatment success, using only empirical data.

Methods and findings

We study the effect of DOTS using time-series cross-sectional methods. We first e

SUBMITTER: Obermeyer Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2253827 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature