Epidemiological Characteristics and Disease Burden of Tuberculous Meningitis in Hospitalized Children in China: A Nationwide Retrospective Study

Objectives To investigate the epidemiological profile and cost burden of pediatric inpatients with tuberculous meningitis (TBM) in China. Methods We conducted a descriptive multicenter study involving pediatric TBM inpatients from 9 provincial hospitals and 20 municipal hospitals across 24 provinces in China from January 2016 to December 2021. Sociodemographic and geographic variables, admission and discharge information were extracted from face sheets of discharge medical records to describe the epidemiological characteristics. Length of hospital stay (LOS) and hospitalization expenses were used to assess disease burden. Results TBM accounted for 0.01% (971/7,647,598) of total hospitalization cases and 15.82% (971/6,138) of TB cases. The proportion of TBM children aged 1-3 (39.13%, 380/971) years were the highest. TBM children aged Conclusion Pediatric TBM poses substantial disease burden in China, especially in western regions and children under six years old. Early diagnosis and treatment for children with TBM should be suggested.