Time to culture conversion in smokers with pulmonary tuberculosis

Area of Science:

• Pulmonology
• Infectious Diseases
• Public Health

Background:

• Tobacco smoking is known to impede sputum culture sterilization in pulmonary tuberculosis patients.
• Factors delaying culture conversion in smoking tuberculosis patients remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify factors influencing sputum culture conversion in pulmonary tuberculosis patients who smoke.
• To understand the relationship between patient characteristics and treatment outcomes in this population.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 99 patients with a smoking history and pulmonary tuberculosis.
• Statistical analysis including Student t-test, chi-square test, and logistic regression.
• Evaluation of variables: age, gender, pack-years, comorbidities, AFB load, radiological findings, drug susceptibility, and initial treatment.

Main Results:

• 26.2% of patients remained sputum culture positive at two months.
• Univariate analysis showed significant associations with female gender and extensive disease.
• Logistic regression identified female gender as the sole independent predictor (OR=5.63, p=0.02).

Conclusions:

• Female gender is the only factor associated with delayed sputum culture conversion time in current smokers with pulmonary tuberculosis.
• This suggests gender-specific nuances in tuberculosis treatment response among male and female smokers.