ABSTRACT
Pulmonary TB is a chronic infectious disease that has become a global health burden. The aim of this study is to understand the role of bacterial load and plasma rifampicin concentration as risk factors of sputum conversion failure in pulmonary TB. This is a quantitative study with a cross-sectional design conducted on 102 subjects. The study was conducted at the RSP Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran. Plasma rifampicin concentration was measured using UPLC, sputum conversion was examined by Ziehl–Neelsen staining, and statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20. The results indicate that the baseline Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) load was significantly different between the groups (p = 0.04), and high M.tb load was the risk factor of sputum conversion failure (POR = 2.97 CI 95% = 1.23–7.15, p = 0.015). In conclusion, M.tb load was found to be the risk factor of sputum conversion failure, not the plasma rifampicin concentration.
