Prevalence of lung function impairment in cured pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Cotonou, Benin

National teaching hospital for the management of respiratory diseases, Cotonou, Benin.

1) To estimate the prevalence of lung function impairment (LFI) and associated factors in patients cured of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB); and 2) to determine the link between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and LFI occurrence.

We performed a cross-sectional study in cured patients with smear-positive TB (PTB+) treated between 2012 and 2015. We recruited two control groups of 70 HIV-infected (HIV+/TB-) and 70 HIV-negative participants without TB (HIV-/TB-). We performed spirometry in all participants to identify LFI (obstructive, restrictive or mixed) and the 6-min walk test (6-MWT) in PTB+ participants. We assessed the factors associated with LFI using logistic regression.

Of 4711 subjects with PTB, 241 were contacted and 189 were included. The median age was 37 years; 128 (68.0%) were male. Overall, 85 cured PTB+ patients had LFI (45.0%). Extent of initial radiological lesions, time between symptom onset and treatment, and female sex were independently associated with LFI. Fifty-five (29.1%) cured PTB+ patients had an abnormal 6-MWT; those with LFI had a higher risk of poor exercise tolerance (OR 2.23; interquartile range 1.16-4.30). We did not find any association between HIV infection and LFI.

LFI is very common in cured PTB+ patients from Benin and significantly impacts exercise tolerance.