Long-term mortality of patients with tuberculosis in Korea

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Long-term mortality following tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis in Korea remains unclear. METHODS : The present study used data from the National Health Insurance Service database, an extensive health-related database including most Korean residents. TB patients were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision coding (A15-19, U88.0-88.1) and the type of anti-TB drug(s) between 2003 and 2016. Long-term mortality and causes of death in TB patients were analysed. RESULTS : A total of 357 211 individuals had TB over the period from 2003 to 2016 and 103 682 died. The mean age of the cohort was 54.7 +/- 20.7 years, and 59.8% were male. The survival probability of TB patients at 1, 5, and 10 years after diagnosis was 87.8%, 75.3%, and 63.3%, respectively. High mortality and TB-related death rates were especially prominent in the early stages after TB diagnosis. The overall standardized mortality ratio of TB patients to the general Korean population was 3.23 (95% confidence interval 3.21-3.25). CONCLUSION: Mortality in TB patients was especially high in the early stages of disease after TB diagnosis, and mostly due to TB. This figure was approximately threetimes higher than the mortality rate in the general population.