Comparison of Clinical Characteristics of Pulmonary Tuberculosis between General and Homeless Patients |
Kwan Jin Park, Sang Do Shin, Chang Bae Park, Ki Jeong Hong, Jong Hwan Shin, Kyoung Jun Song, Yu Jin Kim, Jin Hee Jeong, Chang Woo Kang |
1Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. 2Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. skciva@gmail.com 3Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea. |
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ABSTRACT |
PURPOSE: We compared characteristics and outcomes of pulmonary tuberculosis in homeless and non-homeless patients.
METHODS: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted in a Seoul municipal medical center between January 2007 and December 2011. All adult patients diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis were included. We classified these patients into homeless and non-homeless and compared the disease characteristics, risk factors, mortality, treatment completion rate, and resistance rate.
RESULTS: All 157 patients were diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis (75 homeless and 82 non-homeless). Most homeless patients were male (97.3%) and had higher emergency medical service (EMS) use (77.3%). Additionally, most homeless patients used alcohol l(76%) and smoked (77.3%).
When compared with the non-homeless group, the homeless group had a higher in-hospital mortality rate (14.7%; adjusted odds ratio (OR), 4.69; 95% confident interval (CI), 1.03-21.34), and were more likely to be admitted for (adjusted OR=3.27(1.07-9.97)), but not to complete tuberculosis treatment (adjusted OR=9.10(2.24-36.98)).
CONCLUSION: Pulmonary tuberculosis showed higher mortality in homeless than non-homeless patients. Additionally, homeless had a lower treatment completion rate and fewer resistant microorganisms. |
Key words:
Homeless, Tuberculosis, Mortality, Resistance |
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