Continga vDOT for Tuberculosis (TB)

Directly observed treatment (DOT, also known as TB-DOT) is the name given to the tuberculosis (TB) control strategy recommended by the World Health Organization and NICE.

According to WHO, "The most cost-effective way to stop the spread of TB in communities with a high incidence is by curing it. The best curative method for TB is known as DOT."

With DOT, healthcare professionals meet with their patients “in person” to watch every dose of medication being taken over the many months course of treatment.

DOT has been shown to be highly effective at improving treatment adherence and health outcomes.

As such, DOT is the strategy recommended by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control for treating TB. Although effective, the DOT process can be time consuming and expensive, in addition to reducing patient autonomy and putting patients at risk for loss of confidentiality and stigma. It can also be difficult or impossible to perform for patients who live in remote areas.

Continga's Video Directly Observed Therapy (vDOT) replaces this time consuming physical DOT by using the Patient's own phone to observe these tuberculosis (TB) patients taking their medications remotely.

The method is promising as a flexible and less invasive option to help ensure TB patients complete their treatment successfully.

Additionally, the time savings due to vDOT may then be used by healthcare workers to better support their patients who need help with adherence. It also improves patient satisfaction by increasing self-management and privacy, as well as increasing access to DOT for hard to-reach patients.

Video-Observed Therapy Versus Directly Observed Therapy in Patients With Tuberculosis

Cong B Truong , Kaniz A Tanni , Jingjing Qian

PMID: 34916094

DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2021.10.013

Use of Smartphone-Based Video Directly Observed Therapy (vDOT) in Tuberculosis Care

Samuel B Holzman, Sachin Atre, Tushar Sahasrabudhe, Sunil Ambike, Deepak Jagtap, Yakub Sayyad, Arjun Lal Kakrani, Amita Gupta, Vidya Mave and Maunank Shah

PMID: 31456581

DOI: 10.2196/13411