Context: Nutritional interventions substantially improve tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes and prevent complications. However, there is limited evidence about the connections between having nutritional support and TB treatment adherence.
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of nutritional support in improving treatment adherence among patients with TB.
Data sources: Databases, including PubMed, Embase (Ovid), Web of Science, and Scopus, were comprehensively reviewed to identify relevant studies reporting the impacts of nutritional support on TB treatment adherence.
Data extraction: Two authors independently screened the title, abstracts, and full article texts to identify eligible studies and assess the risk of bias. Observational and interventional studies were included.
Data analysis: A narrative synthesis approach was used to summarize the findings qualitatively.
Results: From the search, 3059 publications were identified; of these, 8 studies were included in this systematic review. Three types of nutritional interventions were identified: food baskets (eg, energy, micronutrient- or macronutrient-enriched food support), nutritional advice and guidance, and incentives for buying foods. Although 5 studies reported that nutritional support significantly improved treatment adherence in patients with TB, 3 studies showed that nutritional support had no effect on TB treatment adherence.
Conclusions: Providing nutritional support may improve adherence to TB treatment. However, more well-powered, high-quality trials are warranted to demonstrate the effect of nutrition support on cost-effectively improving adherence to TB treatment.
Systematic review registration: PROSPERO registration no. CRD42023392162.
Keywords: TB; nutritional support; systematic review; treatment adherence.
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Life Sciences Institute.