BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis has been a major public health problem in the Philippines for the past several decades. TB control is possible in the context of Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS). Certification of TB DOTS centers assures the public and payers of health care a capable center providing safe and effective DOTS services to TB patients. The TB DOTS center in Quezon Institute (QI) is one of the certified and accredited centers in the Philippines. We aimed to describe the clinical features and outcomes of patients treated under DOTS in (Q.I.) and define the effectiveness of its implementation.

METHODOLOGY: The treatment cards and records of patients who were treated at the Q.I. TB-DOTS center from March 2004 to December 2005 were reviewed. The clinical features and outcomes of the treatment of the patients were evaluated. Descriptive statistics was used in the analysis of the data.

RESULTS: There were 109 patients treated in 2004 and 117 treated in 2005. Most of the patients were males (79 percent in 2004 , 75 percent in 2005), and were in the 21 -60 years age bracket (81 percent in 2004, 84 percent in 2005). Most of the patients(69 percent in 2004, 68 percent in 2005) were new smear- positive cases. Cure was the frequent outcome of treatment (66 percent in 2004, 72 percent in 2005). The cure rate for sputum smear-positive patients is 90 percent in both years.

CONCLUSION: The cure rate in the Quezon Institute TB-DOTS center is high. The cure rate for sputum smear-positive patients is 90 percent. The implementation of DOTS in this center is effective and successful. (Author)