Increased Risk of Incident Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Related Hospitalizations in Tuberculosis Survivors: A Population-Based Matched Cohort Study

Background Tuberculosis (TB) survivors have an increased risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study assessed the risk of COPD development and COPD-related hospitalization in TB survivors compared to controls. Methods We conducted a population-based cohort study of TB survivors and 1:1 age- and sex-matched controls using data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database collected from 2010 to 2017. We compared the risk of COPD development and COPD-related hospitalization between TB survivors and controls. Results Of the subjects, 9.6% developed COPD, and 2.8% experienced COPD-related hospitalization. TB survivors had significantly higher COPD incidence rates (36.7/1,000 vs. 18.8/1,000 person-years, P P P Conclusion TB survivors had higher risks of incident COPD and COPD-related hospitalization compared to controls. These results suggest that previous TB is an important COPD etiology associated with COPD-related hospitalization.