The joint impact of smoking plus alcohol drinking on treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, smoking, and alcohol drinking are major public health and social issues worldwide. We investigated the joint effect of smoking plus alcohol drinking on TB treatment. Retrospective study was conducted among TB patients in 49 units from eight provinces in China. All patients enrolled were classified into four groups according to their smoking and/or alcohol status. Current smokers plus drinkers belonged to group 1; ex-smokers plus ex-drinkers were in group 2; current smokers and ex-drinkers, current smokers and never drinkers, ex-smokers and current drinkers, ex-smokers and never drinkers, never smokers and current drinkers, and never smokers and ex-drinkers belonged to group 3; while the never smokers plus never drinkers were in group 4. We used a chi-square test to compare adverse drug reaction, lesions absorption and cavities of lung, sputum culture at the end of the second month, and treatment outcomes among the four groups. Among the 1256 participants enrolled in the study, 6.1% (76/1256) were current smokers plus drinkers; 25.9% (325/1256) were ex-smokers plus drinkers; 29.1% (366/1256) were current/never/ex-smokers and/or drinkers, and 38.9% (489/1256) were never smokers plus drinkers, respectively. Compared to the never smokers and drinkers, smoker plus drinker TB patients were more likely to experience adverse drug reaction (x² = 8.480, P = 0.037), less proportion of lesions absorption in lungs (x² = 10.330, P = 0.016), lower proportion of culture conversion (x² = 18.83, P = 0.04), and more unfavorable outcomes. Smoking plus alcohol drinking adversely affect response against TB treatment, which increase adverse drug reactions, sputum culture-positive rate at the end of the second month, and failure rate of pulmonary tuberculosis patients.