Background

The demographic transition and increasing life expectancy in Africa has lead to a rising elderly population. In Nigeria, little is known about the profile of and treatment outcomes of tuberculosis (TB) in the elderly.

Methods

Retrospective cohort study of adult TB patients treated between January 2011 and December 2012 in two large health facilities in Nigeria. The demographic, clinical and treatment outcomes of patients aged 60 and older were compared with those aged 15 to 59 years.

Results

Elderly (=60 years) TB patients accounted for 12.7% of all (1668) adult TB enrolled. Elderly patients had a higher proportion of men compared to non-elderly (64.2% vs 56.8%; p?=?0.043); but a lower proportion of smear-positive TB at baseline (40.7% vs 65.8%; p<0.001). A higher proportion of elderly patients failed to smear convert after the intensive phase of treatment (23.7% vs 19.8%; p?=?0.06), and overall elderly patients had lower treatment success rates (68.9% vs 77.1%; p?=?0.009). Unsuccessful outcomes were mainly due to higher default and deaths in the elderly. The risk factors for unsuccessful outcomes in the elderly were: extrapulmonary TB case (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 10.9; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1–108), and HIV co-infection (aOR 3.6; CI 1.1–11.7).

Conclusions

Treatment outcomes of elderly TB patients were inferior to non-elderly adults with higher death and default rates being implicated. With the rising elderly population, specific strategies are needed to quickly address TB management in the elderly in resource-limited settings.