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. 2016 Dec;48(4):317-323.
doi: 10.3947/ic.2016.48.4.317. Epub 2016 Nov 21.

Association between Body Mass Index and Sputum Culture Conversion among South Korean Patients with Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis in a Tuberculosis Referral Hospital

Hyun Oh Park  1 , Sung Hwan Kim  1 , Seong Ho Moon  1 , Joung Hun Byun  1 , Jong Woo Kim  1 , Chung Eun Lee  2 , Jong Duk Kim  2 , In Seok Jang  2 , Jun Ho Yang  3
Affiliations

Association between Body Mass Index and Sputum Culture Conversion among South Korean Patients with Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis in a Tuberculosis Referral Hospital

Hyun Oh Park et al. Infect Chemother. 2016 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is an important global health problem. Furthermore, the time to identify a positive sputum culture is an important risk factor for the spread of tuberculosis, and several factors can predict a prolonged time to culture conversion. Moreover, the relationship between poor nutritional status and infectious disease is clearly established. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the association between body mass index (BMI) and sputum culture conversion within 3 months among patients with MDR-TB.

Materials and methods: We retrospectively evaluated 218 patients with MDR-TB who were treated at a large tuberculosis referral hospital in South Korea between January 2005 and December 2010. The outcome of interest was defined as sputum culture conversion within 3 months, and we analyzed the association between BMI and this outcome.

Results: Among the 218 patients, 53 patients (24.3%) had a low BMI (<18.5 kg/m²). In the multivariate Cox proportional-hazards regression analysis, failure to achieve sputum culture conversion within 3 months was independently associated with having a low BMI (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.741, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.006-3.013; P = 0.047) and a positive sputum smear at the initiation of therapy (HR: 8.440, 95% CI: 1.146-62.138, P = 0.036).

Conclusion: Low BMI (<18.5 kg/m²) was an independent risk factor for failure to achieve sputum culture conversion within 3 months among patients with MDR-TB.

Keywords: Multidrug-resistant; Nutritional status; Risk factors; Sputum; Tuberculosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

No conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Time to initial sputum culture conversion according to body mass index. The time to conversion among patients with a body mass index of <18.5 kg/m2 was significantly longer, compared to the group with a normal body mass index. BMI, body mass index
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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