BACKGROUND

Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) undermines control efforts and its burden is poorly understood in resource-limited settings. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to provide an up-to-date summary of the extent of drug-resistant TB in Nigeria.

METHODS

We searched PubMed, Scopus, Embase, HINARI, AJOL, the Cochrane library, Web of Science, and Google Scholar for reports published before January 31 2017, that included any resistance, mono-resistance or multidrug resistance to anti-TB drugs in Nigeria. Summary estimates were calculated using random effects models.

RESULTS

We identified 34 anti-TB drug resistance surveys with 8002 adult TB patients consisting of 2982 new and 5020 previously-treated cases. The prevalence rate of any drug resistance among new TB cases was 32.0% (95% CI 24.0-40.0%; 734/2892) and among previously-treated cases, the rate was 53.0% (95% CI 35.0-71.0%; 1467/5020). Furthermore, multidrug resistance among new and previously-treated cases was 6.0% (95% CI 4.0-8.0%;161/2502)and 32.0% (95%CI 20.0-44.0; 357/949), respectively. There was significant heterogeneity between the studies (p<0.001, I2 tests). The prevalence of drug-resistant TB varied according to methods of drug susceptibility testing and geographic region of Nigeria.

CONCLUSION

The burden of drug-resistant TB in Nigeria is high. We recommend that a national anti-TB drug resistance survey be carried out, and strategies for case detection and programmatic management of drug-resistant TB in Nigeria need to be strengthened.