Experiences of Latent Tuberculosis Infection Treatment for the North Korean Refugees / 결핵및호흡기질환

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND@#Tuberculosis (TB) is increasing in immigrants. We aimed to investigate the current status of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) treatment for North Korean Refugees (NKR) compared to South Koreans Contacts (SKC).@*METHODS@#TB close contacts in a closed facility of SKC and NKR who underwent LTBI screening in a settlement support center for NKR were analyzed retrospectively.@*RESULTS@#Among tuberculin skin test (TST) ≥10 mm (n=298) reactors, the males accounted for 72.2% in SKC (n=126) and 19.5% in NKR (n=172) (p<0.01). The mean age was higher in South Korea (42.8±9.9 years vs. 35.4±10.0 years, p<0.01). Additionally, the mean TST size was significantly bigger in NKR (17.39±3.9 mm vs. 16.57±4.2 mm, p=0.03). The LTBI treatments were initiated for all screened NKR, and LTBI completion rate was only 68.0%. However, in NKR, LTBI treatment completion rate was significantly increased by shorter 4R regimen (odds ratio [OR], 9.296; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.159–20.774; p<0.01) and male (OR, 3.447; 95% CI, 1.191–9.974; p=0.02).@*CONCLUSION@#LTBI treatment compliance must be improved in NKR with a shorter regimen. In addition, a larger study regarding a focus on LTBI with easy access to related data for NKR should be conducted.