Ziad Obermeyer|Jesse Abbott-Klafter|Christopher J L Murray
Has the DOTS Strategy Improved Case Finding or Treatment Success? An Empirical Assessment
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation|University of Washington|Harvard University|University of California, San Francisco|Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation|University of Washington
nearly fifteen years start whos dots strategy tuberculosis remains major global health problem given lack empirical evidence dots reduces tuberculosis burden considerable debate arisen place future global tuberculosis control efforts independent evaluation dots one widelyimplemented longestrunning interventions global health prerequisite meaningful improvements tuberculosis control efforts including whos new stop tb strategy investigate impact expansion dots strategy tuberculosis case finding treatment success using empirical datawe study effect dots using timeseries crosssectional methods first estimate impact dots expansion case detection using reported case notification data controlling determinants change notifications including hiv prevalence gdp countryspecific effects estimate effect dots expansion treatment success dots programme variables statistically significant impact case detection wide range models specifications dots population coverage significant effect overall treatment success rates countries full dots coverage benefit least 18 increase treatment success 95 ci 531the dots technical package improved overall treatment success contrast dots expansion effect case detection finding less optimistic previous analyses better epidemiological programme data would facilitate future monitoring evaluation efforts