Factors associated with abandonment of tuberculosis treatment: a cross-sectional study between 2014 and 2019.

Introduction: tuberculosis (TB) is a public health problem. Brazil is among the group of 22 countries responsible for 90% of the world’s TB cases. High proportions of abandonment of treatment may contribute to this epidemiological scenario that is difficult to control. Objective: to analyze the factors associated with abandonment of tuberculosis treatment (ATT). Methods: this is a cross-sectional study of individuals diagnosed with tuberculosis in Brazil between 2014 and 2019 whose cases had been reported to the Notifiable Diseases Information System. Poisson regression of robust variance was used according to hierarchical levels. Results: a total of 508,787 cases were reported, and 59,871 patients (16.4%) abandoned treatment. The prevalence of abandonment was higher in homeless individuals (PR 2.75; 95%CI 2.10-3.61), black race/skin color (PR 1.79; 95%CI 1.46-2.20), HIV/AIDS (PR 1.59; 95%CI 1.30-1.93), alcoholics (PR 1.38; 95%CI 1.14-1.68), illicit drug use (PR 1.85; 95%CI 1.49-2.28), and in individuals who resumed treatment after abandonment (PR 1.91; 95%CI 1.54-2.37). Conclusion: social vulnerability is associated with the abandonment of tuberculosis treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]