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. 2025 Mar 17;80(3):562-565.
doi: 10.1093/cid/ciae304.

Incident Tuberculosis Infection Is Associated With Alcohol Use in Adults in Rural Uganda

Rachel Abbott  1 , Kirsten Landsiedel  2 , Mucunguzi Atukunda  3 , Sarah B Puryear  1 , Gabriel Chamie  1 , Judith A Hahn  1 , Florence Mwangwa  3 , Elijah Kakande  3 , Maya L Petersen  2 , Diane V Havlir  1 , Edwin Charlebois  4 , Laura B Balzer  2 , Moses R Kamya  3   5 , Carina Marquez  1
Affiliations

Incident Tuberculosis Infection Is Associated With Alcohol Use in Adults in Rural Uganda

Rachel Abbott et al. Clin Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Data on alcohol use and incident tuberculosis (TB) infection are needed. In adults aged ≥15 in rural Uganda (N = 49 585), estimated risk of incident TB was 29.2% with alcohol use versus 19.2% without (RR: 1.49; 95%CI: 1.40-1.60). There is potential for interventions to interrupt transmission among people who drink alcohol.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01864603.

Keywords: TB infection; TMLE; alcohol; causal roadmap; missing data.

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Conflict of interest statement

Potential conflicts of interest. G. C. reports participation on a data and safety monitoring board or advisory board as a member of a data monitoring committee for a National Institutes of Health (NIH)–funded clinical trial (TB Screening Improves Preventive Therapy Uptake [TB SCRIPT] trial). E. C. reports consulting fees from the Infectious Diseases Research Collaboration, Kampala, Uganda (paid to the author for Integrated HIV & Hypertension Study consulting). D. V. H. reports nonfinancial support from Gilead (drug donation for an NIH study) and Abbott (diagnostic test donation). All other authors report no potential conflicts. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Estimated relative risk of incident TB infection and any versus no alcohol use—overall, by level of drinking (with lower use defined as 1–2 drinks per drinking occasion and higher use defined as ≥3 drinks per drinking occasion) and by prespecified subgroups. Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; RR, risk ratio; TB, tuberculosis.
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