Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40843468›Full record

Observational studyClinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America2026

Characterizing Treatment Adherence Trajectories in the endTB Multisite Cohort of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Patients: An Application of Group-Based Trajectory Modeling.

Stephanie Law, Isabel Fulcher, Samreen Ashraf, Mathieu Bastard, Wisny Docteur, Molly F Franke, Dalia Guerra, Catherine Hewison, Helena Huerga, Munira Khan and 12 more

Abstract readObservational StudyMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Treatment Adherence With an Oral 9-Month Regimen for Rifampicin-Resistant Tuberculosis in South Africa.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026
    Observational
  5. Article
  6. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

22 authors.

Stephanie LawMcGill International TB Centre, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-7869-997X
Isabel FulcherDelfina, San Francisco, California, USA.
Samreen AshrafTB Control Programme-Sindh, National TB Control Programme, Karachi, Pakistan.
Mathieu BastardGlobal Programme on TB & Lung Health, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Wisny DocteurPartners In Health, Cange, Haiti.
Molly F FrankeDepartment of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Dalia GuerraSocios En Salud Sucursal Peru, Lima, Peru.
Catherine HewisonMédecins Sans Frontières, Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0002-0363-1479
Helena HuergaEpicentre, Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0003-0302-9063
Munira KhanInteractive Research and Development, Durban, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0003-2083-2106
Palwasha KhanInteractive Research and Development Global, Singapore, Singapore.
Uzma KhanInteractive Research and Development Global, Singapore, Singapore.ORCID 0000-0002-3602-5950
Jarmila KliescikovaMédecins sans Frontières, Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
Andargachew KumsaNational TB, Leprosy and Other Lung Diseases Control Program, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.ORCID 0000-0003-1245-7676
Nino LomtadzeNational Center for Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, Tbilisi, Georgia.ORCID 0009-0000-8064-1956
Fauziah Asnely PutriInteractive Research & Development, Jakarta, Indonesia.
Michael L RichPartners In Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Kwonjun SeungDivision of Global Health Equity, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Alena SkrahinaWHO Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Meseret TamiratPartners In Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Luan Nguyen Quang VoFriends for International TB Relief, Ha Noi, Viet Nam.ORCID 0000-0002-5937-6286
Carole D MitnickDepartment of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Funding

CIHR #TS1-170663Harvard Data Science Initiative Postdoctoral Research Fund #258467Médecins Sans FrontièresUnitaidWorld Health Organization 001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn tuberculosis (TB) care, adherence is often assessed using a simple 80% threshold, which may overlook meaningful patterns. We analyzed adherence trajectories among individuals treated for rifampicin- or multidrug-resistant TB (RR/MDR-TB) in the endTB observational study to identify more informative patterns.

methodsWe applied a joint latent class mixed model to classify adherence trajectories and assess their relationship with treatment outcomes. Model performance was compared to common classification methods (eg 80% adherence threshold) using Kendall's τb and area under the receiver operating curve for predicting unsuccessful outcomes.

resultsAmong 1787 individuals, we identified 4 adherence patterns: "consistently high" (72.5%), "high to low" (14.3%), "low to high" (7.3%), and "consistently low" (5.9%). Compared to the "consistently high" group, those in "high to low" (hazard ratio [HR] = 23.2; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 15.7-24.3) and "consistently low" (HR = 43.2; 95% CI: 26.2-71.5) groups had significantly higher risk of unsuccessful outcomes, while the "low to high" group did not (HR = 0.7; 95% CI: .1-3.8). Our trajectory model more accurately predicted outcomes than common classification methods (P < .01).

conclusionsGroup-based trajectory modeling provides more nuanced insights into adherence patterns than conventional classification methods. Our findings demonstrate that patients with RR/MDR-TB who exhibited initial poor adherence followed by subsequent improvement achieved clinical outcomes comparable to those with consistently high adherence throughout treatment. This finding challenges the prevailing assumption that sustained high adherence is necessary for treatment success, suggesting that adherence patterns, rather than overall adherence rates, may be more predictive of clinical outcomes in the management of RR/MDR-TB.

Indexed as

Antitubercular AgentsMedication AdherenceTuberculosis, Multidrug-ResistantAdultCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRifampinTreatment OutcomeAntitubercular AgentsRifampinadherencedirectly observed therapygroup-based trajectory modelsMDR-TBtuberculosis

Identifiers

PMID40843468
PMCPMC13017710

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.