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Home / The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Volume 17, Number 10

Prognostic factors associated with mortality before and during anti-tuberculosis treatment

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OBJECTIVE: To identify factors associated with death before the start of anti-tuberculosis treatment, and early and late during treatment, among adult Taiwanese with culture-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB).

METHOD: All adult culture-positive PTB patients in Taipei, Taiwan, were included in a retrospective cohort study in 2005–2010.

RESULTS: Of 4438 patients (mean age 64.6 years, 70.6% male), 76.8% were successfully treated, 5.4% died before start of treatment, 9.0% died within 8 weeks of treatment initiation and 8.8% died >8 weeks after treatment initiation. After controlling for potential confounders, age ≥65 years and male sex were associated with higher risks of death at all time periods investigated. High school education or higher reduced the risk of death before the start of and during treatment, while unemployment increased the risk of mortality during treatment. Cavity on chest X-ray and positivity for acid-fast bacilli were associated with lower risk of mortality before the start of treatment.

CONCLUSION: To lower mortality among adult culture-positive PTB patients, it is imperative for clinicians to maintain high awareness of TB and provide more intensive care early, especially for men, the elderly and people with lower socio-economic status (e.g., the unemployed and less educated).

Keywords: Taiwan; mortality; tuberculosis

Document Type: Research Article

Affiliations: 1: Section of Infectious Diseases, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei City Government, Taipei, Taiwan; Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan 2: Department of Disease Control and Prevention, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei City Government, Taipei, Taiwan 3: Section of Infectious Diseases, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei City Government, Taipei, Taiwan 4: Institute of Hospital and Health Care Administration, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan

Publication date: 01 October 2013

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  • The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IJTLD) is for clinical research and epidemiological studies on lung health, including articles on TB, TB-HIV and respiratory diseases such as COVID-19, asthma, COPD, child lung health and the hazards of tobacco and air pollution. Individuals and institutes can subscribe to the IJTLD online or in print – simply email us at [email protected] for details.

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