Coexistence of dementia with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis is associated with patient in-hospital mortality.

BACKGROUND

The impact of dementia on the survival of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) remains unclear. This study sought to describe the risk factors influencing in-hospital mortality in patients with pulmonary TB and comorbid dementia.

METHODS

A 9-y, medical record-based retrospective study of hospitalized adult patients with newly diagnosed, smear-positive, non-multidrug-resistant pulmonary TB without human immunodeficiency virus infection was performed. Clinical presentations, biochemical tests, radiographic findings, and clinical outcomes were collected. Variables were compared between groups. Statistically significant (p-value < 0.05) variables were entered into a multivariate stepwise logistic regression model. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method, and groups were compared by log-rank test.

RESULTS

Of the 279 enrolled patients (178 men; median age, 76 y), the mortality rate was 12.2% (34/279). Univariate analysis showed a higher frequency of dementia in patients who died in hospital than that in surviving patients. Multivariate stepwise logistic analysis showed that dementia was significantly associated with higher rates of in-hospital mortality (odds ratio, 3.20; 95% confidence interval, 1.15-8.88, p = 0.026). In addition, subgroup survival curves showed that dementia was associated with reduced survival rates, even after adjusting for age (log-rank test, p = 0.0007).

CONCLUSIONS

The comorbidity of dementia with pulmonary TB was associated with patient in-hospital mortality. Medical practitioners should be aware of dementia in patients with smear-positive pulmonary TB to identify high-mortality groups.