PLoS ONE (Jan 2020)

Alcohol use and tuberculosis clinical presentation at the time of diagnosis in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu, India.

  • Carolyn K Kan,
  • Elizabeth J Ragan,
  • Sonali Sarkar,
  • Selby Knudsen,
  • Megan Forsyth,
  • Muthaiah Muthuraj,
  • Kumar Vinod,
  • Helen E Jenkins,
  • C Robert Horsburgh,
  • Padmini Salgame,
  • Gautam Roy,
  • Jerrold J Ellner,
  • Karen R Jacobson,
  • Swaroop Sahu,
  • Natasha S Hochberg

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240595
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 12
p. e0240595

Abstract

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SettingAlcohol use increases the risk of tuberculosis (TB) disease and is associated with worse outcomes.ObjectiveTo determine whether alcohol use affects TB severity at diagnosis in a high-burden setting.DesignParticipants were smear-positive people living with TB (PLWTB) in India. Disease severity was assessed as 1) high versus low smear grade, 2) time to positivity (TTP) on liquid culture, 3) chest radiograph cavitation, and 4) percent lung affected. Alcohol use and being at-risk for alcohol use disorders (AUD) were assessed using the AUDIT-C. Univariable and multivariable analyses were conducted.ResultsOf 1166 PLWTB, 691 (59.3%) were drinkers; of those, 518/691 (75.0%) were at-risk for AUD. Drinkers had more lung affected than non-drinkers (adjusted mean difference 10.8%, pConclusionsA large proportion of PLWTB were drinkers and were at-risk for AUD. Alcohol drinkers had more lung affected than non-drinkers. Studies are needed to explore mechanisms of this association.