Time to sputum culture conversion and its associated factors among multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients in Eastern Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

• The median time to culture conversion is 61.2 days. • The duration of time to sputum culture conversion can be shortened when the nutritional status of patients is improved. • Favorable treatment outcomes can be enhanced when the duration of time to culture conversion is short. • Culture conversion and treatment outcomes are considered the most important indicator of treatment efficacy in TB treatment. • The intensive phase duration of injectable drugs can be shortened when the initial time to culture conversion is determined. This study aimed to consider the estimated time to multi-resistant tuberculosis culture conversion, and associated factors, in order to enhance evidence utilization in eastern Africa. We systematically identified available articles on multidrug-resistant tuberculosis culture conversion using PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Web of Science core collection, and Science Direct databases. A random-effects model was employed using the R 3.6.1 version and Stata/se 14 software. Nine articles with a sample size of 2458 multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients were included. The two-month culture conversion rate was 75.4%, with a median time of 61.2 days (interquartile range: 48.6-73.8). In the included studies, favorable treatment outcomes of MDR-TB patients were seen in 75% of the cases, while unfavorable treatment outcomes were seen in 18% (10% deaths, 7% defaulted, and 1% treatment failure) of the cases. The independent factor for delayed sputum culture conversion was body mass index below 18.5 kg/m2 (HR = 3.1, 95% CI: 2.0, 6.7). The median time to sputum culture conversion was 61.2 days, which is a reasonably short time. Body mass index was the identified associated factor leading to delayed culture conversion. Therefore, there is a need for awareness of how to improve the nutritional status of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients through appropriate nutritional supports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]