A Systematic Review of Factors Associated with Mortality among Patients with Mycobacterium avium Complex Lung Disease

As the number of patients with Mycobacterium avium complex lung disease is significantly increasing worldwide, several studies have focused on the prognostic factors associated with the disease. This systematic review investigated the factors associated with mortality among patients with Mycobacterium avium complex lung disease.

Two investigators independently identified studies that were designed to determine risk factors for mortality in patients with Mycobacterium avium complex lung disease from PubMed, the Cochrane Register of Control Trial database, and EMBASE (accessed on 25 November 2022).

Of the 1133 titles and abstracts screened, 54 full texts were selected for review, and 15 studies were finally included in this systematic review. The most commonly studied risk factors were advanced age and low body mass index (11 studies for each), followed by male sex (8 studies), hypoalbuminemia (5 studies), and cavity (5 studies). In each study, these factors were mostly associated with increased all-cause mortality among patients with Mycobacterium avium complex lung disease as confirmed via multivariate analysis.

Advanced age, male sex, low body mass index, hypoalbuminemia, and cavity are likely to be the common risk factors for all-cause mortality among patients with Mycobacterium avium complex lung disease, suggesting that patients with these factors need to be carefully monitored.