Trends of tuberculosis case notification and treatment outcomes in the Sidama Zone, southern Ethiopia: ten-year retrospective trend analysis in urban-rural settings.

Ethiopia is one of the high tuberculosis (TB) burden countries. An analysis of trends and differentials in case notifications and treatment outcomes of TB may help improve our understanding of the performance of TB control services.A retrospective trend analysis of TB cases was conducted in the Sidama Zone in southern Ethiopia. We registered all TB cases diagnosed and treated during 2003-2012 from all health facilities in the Sidama Zone, and analysed trends of TB case notification rates and treatment outcomes.The smear positive (PTB+) case notification rate (CNR) increased from 55 (95% CI 52.5-58.4) to 111 (95% CI 107.4-114.4) per 105 people. The CNRs of PTB+ in people older than 45 years increased by fourfold, while the mortality of cases during treatment declined from 11% to 3% for smear negative (PTB-) (X2trend, P<0.001) and from 5% to 2% for PTB+ (X2trend, P