Effectiveness of Treatment of Rifampicin-Susceptible Tuberculosis in Coal Workers in Kemerovo Oblast

The objective: to investigate influence of the factor of employment in the coal industry with potential exposure to coal dust on the treatment outcomes of patients with rifampicin-susceptible tuberculosis.

Subjects and Methods. A retrospective cohort study was aimed to investigate treatment outcomes of rifampicin-susceptible tuberculosis (TB) in men residing in a coal-mining region of the Russian Federation. Information from the following registration forms was used: Notification of New Cases of Relapse of Tuberculosis (Extended Form 089/u and Medical Treatment Record TB-01/u). Patients were randomized in two groups: male workers of the coal industry (n=287) and a comparison group – other working men aged 21 to 60 years (n=1644) from this region.

Results. The hypothesis about influence of work in hazardous conditions (inhalation of fibrogenic silicon-containing coal dust) in the period preceding the disease on the effectiveness of tuberculosis treatment was found to be untenable after comparison to individuals who had no occupational hazards. The structure of outcomes of chemotherapy for respiratory tuberculosis in workers of the coal industry most likely working in mines, differed from that in Comparison Group by a lower frequency of individuals interrupting treatment (χ²=14.463; p=0.006). The high adherence to tuberculosis treatment among coal industry workers is likely due to the high skill requirements in the industry and their desire to return to work after completing chemotherapy. Thus, it has been proven that work in the coal industry with well-developed labor and social legislation does not relate to risk factors of an unfavorable outcome and poor treatment effectiveness in the patients with rifampicin-susceptible tuberculosis.

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