Background and Objectives: The programmatic management of Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is entirely based on a WHO-recommended long-term, 18-24 month lasting treatment regimen. However, growing evidence shows that low treatment success rate and high rates of adverse events are associated with this regimen. Up to date, the MDR-TB treatment outcome is not sufficiently understood in Ethiopia. Therefore, this analysis aimed to determine the pooled estimates of successful (cure, completed, or both), and poor outcomes (death, failure, and defaults).

Method: A systematic search was performed to identify eligible studies reporting MDR-TB treatment outcomes in Ethiopia. Relevant studies for our analysis were retrieved from PubMed database search, Google Scholar and institutional repository sites of Ethiopian universities up to March 15, 2018. The primary outcome was treatment success, referring to a composite of cure and treatment completion. A random effect model was used to calculate pooled estimates.

Results: Six studies reporting treatment outcome on the 1,993 MDR-TB patients were included in this analysis. Of the cases, the 1288 and 442 patients had a successful and poor outcome, respectively. In the pooled analysis, treatment success was observed in 59.2% (95%CI, 48.1 - 70.4) of patients, while 23.3% (95%CI, 19.7 – 27.0%) of patients had a poor outcome. in sub-group analysis,46.1% (95%CI, 34.2 – 58.0) were cured, 12.8% ( 5.7 – 20.0) treatment completed, 14.3% (11.5 – 17.2) died, 7.5% (3.7 – 11.3) defaulted, and 1.6% (1.1 – 2.2%) experienced treatment failure. However, 25.0% (14.6 – 35.5) patients whose treatment outcome was not assessed (on treatment or transfer-out).

Conclusion: The result of this study highlight treatment success among MDR-TB is below acceptable range. To update the current treatment regimen, the levels of evidence need to be replicated through meticulous surveillance systems.

Study protocol registration: CRD42018090711

Keywords: Ethiopia, MDR-TB, Treatment success