Developing models of care for symptomatic former TB patients in urban Blantyre, Malawi

Adults completing treatment for tuberculosis (TB) in low-resource setting are discharged at TB-treatment completion, but many are left with residual lung damage and respiratory symptoms.

My work, and that of others, has shown the need to develop and implement guidelines for post-TB care. In this project we will implement a surveillance system for residual symptoms amongst TB-survivors in urban Blantyre. We will use mixed-methods to analyse patient beliefs and health seeking practices, and clinician decision making around the management of TB survivors with chronic or recurrent respiratory symptoms. This work will inform the development of an intervention to improve the diagnosis, management and outcomes of this patient group.