Impact of community-based adherence support on treatment outcomes for tuberculosis, leprosy and HIV/AIDS-infected individuals in post-Ebola Liberia

Background: Partners In Health (PIH) committed to improving health care delivery in Maryland County, Liberia following the Ebola epidemic by employing 71 community health workers (CHWs) to provide treatment support to tuberculosis (TB), HIV and leprosy patients. PIH simultaneously deployed a socioeconomic assistance program with three core components: transportation reimbursement to clinics; food support; and additional social assistance in select cases. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate how a CHW program for community treatment support and addressing socioeconomic barriers to care can impact patient outcomes in a post-conflict and post-epidemic context. Methods: Retrospective observational study utilizing registry data from 513 TB, 447 HIV and 75 leprosy patients at three health facilities in Maryland County, Liberia. Treatment coverage and clinical outcomes for patient cohorts enrolled in the pre-intervention period (January 2015 to June 2015) and the post-intervention period (July 2015 to July 2017) are compared using logistic regression analyses. Results: TB treatment coverage increased from 7.7% pre-intervention to 43.2% (p