Underweight increases the risk of early death in tuberculosis patients.

Evidence regarding the association between BMI and mortality in tuberculosis (TB) patients is limited and inconsistent. We investigated the impact of BMI on TB-specific and non-TB-specific mortality with respect to different timing of death. All Taiwanese adults with TB in Taipei were included in a retrospective cohort study in 2012-2014. Multinomial Cox proportional hazards regression was used to evaluate the associations between BMI, cause-specific mortality and timing of death. Of 2410 eligible patients, 86·0 % (2061) were successfully treated, and TB-specific and non-TB-specific mortality occurred for 2·2 % (54) and 13·9 % (335), respectively. After controlling for potential confounders, underweight was significantly associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) 1·57; 95 % CI 1·26, 1·95), whereas overweight was not. When cause-specific death was considered, underweight was associated with an increased risk of either TB-specific (AHR 1·85; 95 % CI 1·03, 3·33) or non-TB-specific death (AHR 1·52; 95 % CI 1·19, 1·95) during treatment. With joint consideration of cause-specific and timing of death, underweight only significantly increased the risk of TB-specific (AHR 2·23; 95 % CI 1·09, 4·59) and non-TB-specific mortality (AHR 1·81; 95 % CI 1·29, 2·55) within the first 8 weeks of treatment. This study suggests that underweight increases the risk of early death in TB patients during treatment.

Association of Body Mass Index With Tuberculosis Mortality: A Population-Based Follow-Up Study.

Evidence regarding the association between body mass index (BMI) and mortality in TB patients is limited and inconsistent. We investigated the effect of BMI on TB-specific and non-TB-specific mortality in TB patients. All adult Taiwanese with TB in Taipei, Taiwan, during 2011 to 2012 were included in this retrospective cohort study. Multinomial logistic regression was used to evaluate associations of BMI with cause of death in TB patients. Of the 1608 eligible patients, 83.6% (1345) were successfully treated, 3.3% (53) died of TB-specific causes, and 13.1% (210) died of non-TB-specific causes. Mean age was 64.6 years, and 67.5% of patients were male. After controlling for potential confounders, underweight was significantly associated with higher risks of all-cause mortality (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.66; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.21-2.30), TB-specific mortality (AOR, 2.14; 95% CI, 1.18-3.89), and non-TB-specific mortality (AOR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.11-2.25) during TB treatment, while overweight was not. When gender differences on the association of BMI with mortality were considered, underweight only significantly increased risks of TB-specific (AOR, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.19-4.72) and non-TB-specific mortality (AOR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.05-2.37) during treatment in male patients, but not female subjects.T he present findings indicate that underweight was associated with higher risks of TB-specific and non-TB-specific mortality during TB treatment, particularly in male patients.

Association between use of proton pump inhibitors and occurrence of colon diverticulitis.

BACKGROUND: Some recent studies have described the adverse effects of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). PPI use and colonic diverticulitis are both associated with bacterial enteric infection and translocation. The aim of this study was to assess the association between PPI use and colonic diverticulitis. METHODS: We conducted a population-based nested case-control study in part by use of data retrospectively collected from the National Health Insurance Research Database. Diverticulitis patients were identified using inpatient discharge records with International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes (562.11 and 562.13), and were recruited as the study cohort. The controls were matched to the study patients by age, sex, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs use, laxative use, and index date. The cumulative defined daily dose (DDD) was estimated as the sum of the dispensed DDD of any PPI. The adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated using multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: We enrolled 690 patients with acute diverticulitis, along with 2760 patients who comprised the control group. The adjusted odds ratios for the study cohort compared with PPI nonusers, after adjusting for possible confounders (including sex, age, comorbidities, and medication), were 1.29 (95% CI = 0.70-2.36) and 1.02 (95% CI = 0.59-1.76) for the group with cumulative PPI use ≥42 and ≥55 DDDs over an exposure period of 90 and 180 days, respectively, prior to the claimed date of hospitalization for colonic diverticulitis. CONCLUSION: The study showed that use of PPIs did not increase the risk of colon diverticulitis.