DOT was defined as a treatment strategy where “an appointed agent directly monitors people swallowing their anti-TB drugs” [17]. CB DOT was defined as DOT provided in the community by CHWs or CVs; clinic DOT was defined as DOT delivered at a fixed health clinic, usually by a government health worker.
The definitions for CHWs and CVs in this review were based on the Global Tuberculosis Report 2013 ([1], p. 35):
CHWs were defined as “people with some formal education who have been given training to contribute to community-based health services, including TB prevention and patient care and support. Their profile, roles and responsibilities vary greatly among countries, and their time is often compensated by incentives in kind or in cash.”
CVs were defined as “community members who have been systematically sensitized about TB prevention and care, either through a short, specific training scheme, or through repeated, regular contact sessions with professional health workers.”
We included studies where the role of the persons delivering CB DOT was consistent with the definitions above for CHW or CV, independent of the term used in the study. Family members providing DOT for their relatives were not included in this definition of CHW or CV.
Treatment success was defined as the sum of cured patients and patients with completed treatment, using WHO definitions [21]. Loss to follow-up was defined as “a TB patient who did not start treatment or whose treatment was interrupted for two consecutive months or more” ([21], p. 6). In the absence of reporting of the numbers lost to follow-up, the reported number defaulting was used instead.