A cross-sectional and follow-up study of leukopenia in tuberculosis patients: prevalence, risk factors and impact of anti-tuberculosis treatment

• Published in: Journal of thoracic disease 2015-12, Vol.7 (12), p.2234-2242
• Main Authors: Lin, Fei-Shen, Wu, Mei-Ying, Tu, Wen-Jun, Pan, Hong-Qiu, Zheng, Jian, Shi, Jun-Wei, Fei, Zhong-Ting, Zhang, Rui-Mei, Yan, Wei-Guo, Shang, Ming-Qun, Zheng, Qiang, Wang, Meng-Jie, Zhang, Xia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Original
• ISSN: 2072-1439; 2077-6624
• DOI: 10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2015.12.41

To investigate the prevalence of and risk factors for leukopenia in tuberculosis patients and the impact of anti-tuberculosis regimens on the occurrence of leukopenia in newly treated tuberculosis patients. A total of 1,904 tuberculosis patients were included in the study. A cross-sectional survey of the prevalence of leukopenia was initially conducted, and then factors influencing leukopenia were identified using Logistic regression analysis. Non-treatment factors influencing peripheral blood leukocyte counts were analyzed using univariate COX proportional hazards models. Covariate analysis was used to assess the independent effect of different anti-tuberculosis regimens on peripheral blood leukocyte counts. Being female, advanced age and longer duration of previous anti-tuberculosis treatment (>6 month) were risk factors for leukopenia in tuberculosis patients, while secondary pulmonary tuberculosis, higher body mass index (BMI: 24-27.9 kg/m(2)), and higher degree of education (senior high school or above) were protective factors. Gender, vegetable consumption, drinking, pulmonary infection, other chronic diseases, and use of antibiotics were significantly associated with the development of leukopenia in patients on anti-tuberculosis treatment. In tuberculosis patients treated with anti-tuberculosis regimens not containing antibiotics, peripheral blood leukocyte levels gradually declined with the prolongation of treatment duration. In tuberculosis patients treated with anti-tuberculosis regimens containing antibiotics, peripheral blood leukocyte levels showed a declining trend. Female patients, patients at advanced age and recurrent tuberculosis patients having longer previous anti-tuberculosis treatment are high-risk populations for leukopenia. Attention should be paid to the influence of vegetable consumption and drinking, co-morbidities and use of antibiotics during anti-tuberculosis treatment.