2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Building cross-border collaboration and continuity of care for tuberculosis patients in Asia

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	19K10635
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Review Section	Basic Section 58030:Hygiene and public health-related: excluding laboratory approach
Research Institution	公益財団法人結核予防会結核研究所
Principal Investigator	OHKADO AKIHIRO 公益財団法人結核予防会結核研究所, 臨床・疫学部, 部長 (30501126)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	河津里沙公益財団法人結核予防会結核研究所, 臨床・疫学部, 主任研究員 (10747570)
Project Period (FY)	2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
Keywords	migrants / patient care / patient referral / treatment outcome / loss to follow-up
Outline of Final Research Achievements	OBJECTIVE: To establish and enhance a cross-border referral process for patients with tuberculosis (TB) in Japan. DESIGN: This prospective cohort study describes and assesses the process of foreign-born patients with TB who returned to their home countries during treatment. RESULTS & CONCLUSION: We enrolled 135 foreign-born patients with TB, and confirmed that 112 (83.0%) were referred to and accessed healthcare facilities after returning to their home countries. Of 102 patients due to complete treatment as of July 2023, 87 (85.3%) completed their treatment. We did not identify significant differences in the treatment success rate among patient characteristics, except between the patients with confirmed access to a healthcare facility and those without (P < 0.001). The access and treatment success rates of the cross-bordered patients with TB from Japan were >80%; however, we should further improve this proportion by confirming the treatment outcomes with official data.
Free Research Field	結核対策
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	本研究により、在日外国生まれ結核患者が帰国後医療機関を受診したことが確認できたのが対象者の83.0％、帰国後治療成功したことが確認できたのが、治療終了しているはずの対象者の内85.3％であり、帰国後治療成功に寄与する因子として、帰国後に医療機関を受診することが明らかとなった。結核患者が治療を受ける場所によらず、どこにおいても結核治療を継続するための支援体制について示すことが出来、今後、わが国のみならず、諸外国においても外国生まれ結核患者の治療継続支援についてのひな形を示すことが出来た。