| First author [ref.] | Country | Setting | Period of data collection | Sample size n | Inappropriate TB treatment regimens | Data quality | |
| SC | TR | ||||||
| Richardson [35] | USA | TB control database | 1995–1998 | 770 | Authors: of the 770 cases, 28.7% did not receive the CDC/ATS recommended drug regimen (HRZE[S]) | * | * |
| Grupo del Trabajo del PMIT [36] | Spain | TB register | 1996–1997 | 10053 | Authors: more than 76% of the subjects were treated in agreement with Spanish guidelines | * | * |
| Diel [37] | Germany | Public health bureaus register | 1997–1999 | 515 | Authors: as the survey shows, preferred tuberculosis treatment in Hamburg was a three-drug regimen (86.7%), with an average duration of about 9 months. This deviates from the WHO recommended standard of a four-drug regimen, and also exceeds the recommended short-term treatment period of 6 months | *** | * |
| Valin [38] | France | Tertiary care hospitals, prison and welfare centres | 2004 | 629 | Authors: 14% no HRZE in intensive phase¶,+ Duration of TB treatment was not applied as recommended in more than 33% of cases | *** | * |
| Hasker [39] | Uzbekistan | TB control programme | 2006 | 180 | Assessed (from table): Pulmonary TB, new smear positive: 26% Pulmonary TB, new smear negative: 4% New extra-pulmonary TB: 31% | ** | *** |
SC: study characteristics; TR: treatment regimens; CDC/ATS: Center for Disease Control/American Thoracic Society; H: isoniazid; R: rifampicin; E: ethambutol; Z: pyrazinamide; S: streptomycin; WHO: World Health Organization. *: low quality; **: moderate quality; ***: high quality. #: general population including children; ¶: for patients that did receive HRZE but were smear negative or had less severe extra-pulmonary TB, HRZE is over treatment and therefore not appropriate; +: non-HRZE regimens not specified, these regimens might be appropriate for smear negatives and less severe forms of extra-pulmonary TB.