Epidemiology of uveitis after tuberculosis in Taiwan - A nationwide population-based cohort study

Current reports on the risk of uveitis of all causes after tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis are lacking. Therefore, we sought to investigate the association between the diagnosis of TB and the subsequent risk of uveitis in Taiwan.

Data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance system were retrieved and patients with newly diagnosed TB between 2000 and 2012 were recruited. The endpoint of interest was the occurrence of uveitis. Patients without TB were randomly matched 4:1 to TB cases based on age, gender, index date, outpatient clinic visit, and index year. Univariate and multivariable Cox proportional regression analyses were performed to analyze the risk of uveitis among TB patients.

A total of 6139 patients with TB and corresponding 24,555 matched control participants were recruited. The mean age was 52.9 ± 22.1 years old and 32.1% were male. The medium follow-up period was 5.81 ± 4.37 years and 7.16 ± 3.95 years in the TB and matched control cohorts. Our results showed that patients with TB had no significantly increased incidence of uveitis. After stratification by gender, age, and comorbidities, the relationship between TB and uveitis was found to be not significant. The cumulative incidence of uveitis was also found to be not significantly higher among the TB group (log-rank P = 0.84).

Our nationwide population-based cohort retrospective study showed that the incidence of uveitis was not significantly higher among patients with TB. Future prospective and multicenter studies are warranted to confirm our findings.