Association of body mass index with incident tuberculosis in Korea.

Abstract

Overweight or obesity might be protective factors of tuberculosis (TB), but the evidence is inconclusive. The objective of study was to evaluate association between BMI and incident TB.The National Health Insurance database was used. Eligible participants were individuals aged 20-89 years without history of TB before 2007, and who underwent national health examinations between January 2002 and December 2006. The latest record of BMI was used as the exposure and categorized as follows: 30 kg/m2 did not show protective effect of TB in female under 50 years. Additionally, BMI >30 kg/m2 did not decrease incident TB in diabetics.Our study suggests that high BMI might be associated with decreased risk of TB. However, very high BMI did not reduce the risk of TB in young females or diabetics participants with in Korean population.