Clinical parameters measured for the 3-year post-TB treatment completion
| Variable | TB treatment completion | 1-year post-TB treatment completion | 2-year post-TB treatment completion | 3-year post-TB treatment completion | P value comparing 1-year and 3-year visits* | P value comparing TB completion and 3-year visit* |
| Clinical observations | n=319 | n=319 | n=319 | n=301 | ||
| Oxygen saturations, median % (IQR) | 98% (97%–99%) | 98% (97%–98%) | 98% (98%–99%) | 99% (98%–100%) | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| SpO2 <92%, n (%) | 4 (1.25%) | 2 (0.63%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0.1573 | 0.05 |
| Respiratory rate/minute, median (IQR) | 19 (17–20) | 20 (19–22) | 20 (19–21) | 20 (20–21) | 0.0193 | <0.0001 |
| BMI, median kg/m2 (IQR) | 20.5 (19–22.3) | 21.2 (19.6–23.4) | 21.3 (19.6–23.4) | 21.3 (19.7–23.9) | 0.0168 | <0.0001 |
| Self- reported symptoms† | <0.0001 | <0.0001 | ||||
| Breathlessness, n (%) | 184 (57.7%) | 246 (77.12%) | 279 (87.5%) | 281 (93.4%) | ||
| Never/only with chest infections | ||||||
| Few days per months | 122 (38.2%) | 67 (21.0%) | 37 (11.6%) | 20 (6.6%) | ||
| ≥Several days per week | 13 (4.1%) | 6 (1.88%) | 3 (0.9%) | 0 (0.0%) | ||
| Cough, n (%) | 0.2763 | <0.0001 | ||||
| Never/only with chest infections | 207 (64.9%) | 265 (83.1%) | 250 (78.4%) | 257 (85.4%) | ||
| Few days per months | 102 (32.0%) | 48 (15.05%) | 56 (17.6%) | 41 (13.6%) | ||
| ≥Several days per week | 10 (3.13%) | 6 (1.88%) | 13 (4.1%) | 3 (1.0%) | ||
| Sputum, n (%) | ||||||
| Never/only with chest infections | 237 (74.3%) | 276 (86.5%) | 277 (87.1%) | 277 (92.0%) | 0.0079 | <0.0001 |
| Few days per months | 76 (23.8%) | 40 (12.5%) | 36 (11.3%) | 24 (8.0%) | ||
| ≥Several days per week | 6 (1.9%) | 3 (0.9%) | 5 (1.6%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| Wheeze, n (%) | 0.0124 | 0.0124 | ||||
| Never/only with chest infections | 295 (92.5%) | 303 (95.0%) | 306 (95.9%) | 295 (98.0%) | ||
| Few days per months | 21 (6.6%) | 16 (5.02%) | 12 (3.8%) | 5 (1.7%) | ||
| ≥Several days per week | 3 (0.9%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (0.31%) | 1 (0.3%) | ||
| Any respiratory symptom≥monthly, n (%) | 185 (60.0%) | 98 (30.72%) | 94 (29.5%) | 59 (19.6%) | 0.0003 | <0.0001 |
| Impact of chest on activities, n (%) | 0.0003 | <0.0001 | ||||
| Does not stop activities | 156 (48.9%) | 257 (80.6%) | 288 (90.3%) | 275 (91.4%) | ||
| Prevents 1–2 activities | 133 (41.7%) | 50 (15.7%) | 29 (9.1%) | 22 (7.3%) | ||
| Prevents most/all activities | 30 (9.4%) | 12 (3.8%) | 2 (0.6%) | 4 (1.3%) | ||
| Impact of chest on work, n (%) | 0.0006 | <0.0001 | ||||
| Does not affect work | 194 (60.8%) | 282 (88.4%) | 291 (92.7%) | 288 (95.7%) | ||
| Interferes with/made me change work | 112 (35.1%) | 34 (10.7%) | 22 (7.01%) | 13 (4.3%) | ||
| Made me stop work | 13 (4.1%) | 3 (0.9%) | 1 (0.32%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| Breathless at rest/during personal care, n (%) | 1 (0.3%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 | 0.3173 |
| Walks slower than peers/stops for rest at own pace, n (%) | 83 (26.2%) | 53 (16.6%) | 25 (7.8%) | 16 (5.3%) | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| Breathless on hills, n (%) | 136 (42.9%) | 70 (21.9%) | 43 (13.5%) | 38 (12.6%) | 0.0014 | <0.0001 |
| Quality of life, median score (IQR) | ||||||
| SGRQ total score | 9 (1–23) | 0 (0–7) | 1.1 (0–2.86) | 0 (0–1.44) | 0.0018 | <0.0001 |
| SGRQ symptoms score | 10 (3–22) | 3 (0–14) | 4.4 (0–9.6) | 0 (0–6.3) | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| SGRQ activity score | 11 (0–35) | 0 (0–6) | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | 0.0016 | <0.0001 |
| SGRQ impact score | 6 (0–15) | 0 (0–4) | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| Care seeking | 12 months after TB-treatment completion | Last visit | ||||
| Any self-reported acute respiratory OPD visit in the last 12 months‡, n (%) | n/a | 49 (15.4%) | n/a | 27 (8.9%) | n/a | 0.0271 |
| Number of respiratory OPD visits in those that sought care‡, n (%) | n/a | 0.0007 | ||||
| 1 | 40 (80.6%) | 17 (63.0%) | ||||
| 2 | 6 (12.2% | 9 (33.3%) | ||||
| >3 | n/a | 3 (6.1%) | n/a | 1 (3.7%) | ||
| Admission for ill health in last 12 months‡, n (%) | n/a | 21 (5.8%) | n/a | 13 (4.4%) | n/a | 0.1779 |
| Admissions for respiratory reason in last 12 months‡, n (%) | n/a | 9 (2.8%) | n/a | 3 (0.9%) | n/a | 0.0833 |
| Retreated for TB in last 12 months‡, n (%) | n/a | 8 (2.51%) | 1 (0.3%) | 2 (0.7%) | n/a | 0.0578 |
n/a: indicated data for comparison were not collected at this time point.
*Pairwise comparisons between TB-treatment completion and 12-month data using McNemar’s test for categorical variables and Wilcoxon rank sum for continuous variables.
†$Symptom questions derived from SGRQ.
‡Data reported from the end of the first 12 months and end of 3 years of the study.
BMI, body mass index; OPD, outpatient department.