Volume 17, Number 3—March 2011
Dispatch
Distinguishing Tuberculosis from Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Lung Disease, Oregon, USA
, Cara D. Varley, Dongseok Choi, P. Maureen Cassidy, Katrina Hedberg, Mary A. Ware, and Kevin L. Winthrop
Table 1
Demographic, clinical, and radiographic features of TB patients compared with NTM patients, Oregon, USA, 2005–2006*
| Characteristic | No. (%) TB patients, n = 80† | No. (%) NTM patients, n = 127 | Relative proportion (95% CI) | p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | ||||
| Median age, y (range) | 44 (5–86) | 67 (12–92) | 0.95 (0.93–0.96) | <0.01‡ |
| Male | 49 (61) | 48 (38) | 1.6 (1.2–2.2) | <0.01 |
| Not US born§ |
65 (81) |
15 (19) |
4.0 (2.5–6.3) |
<0.01‡ |
| Clinical signs and symptoms | ||||
| Cough | 58 (73) | 98 (77) | 0.9 (0.8–1.1) | 0.45 |
| Hemoptysis | 12 (15) | 28 (22) | 0.7 (0.4–1.3) | 0.21 |
| Constitutional symptoms¶ |
56 (70) |
61 (48) |
1.5 (1.2–1.8) |
0.03‡ |
| Chest radiograph | ||||
| Bronchiectasis | 2 (3) | 6 (5) | 0.5 (0.1–2.6) | 0.71 |
| Cavity | 18 (23) | 11 (9) | 2.7 (1.3–5.3) | <0.01 |
| Effusion | 10 (13) | 8 (6) | 2.1 (0.9–5.0) | 0.10 |
| Infiltrate | 68 (87) | 69 (54) | 1.6 (1.3–1.9) | <0.01‡ |
| Lymphadenopathy |
4 (5) |
3 (2) |
2.2 (0.5–9.4) |
0.43 |
| Concurrent conditions | ||||
| Immunosuppressive medications# | 8 (10) | 34 (27) | 0.4 (0.2–0.8) | <0.01 |
| COPD | 2 (3) | 29 (23) | 0.1 (0.0–0.4) | 0.19‡ |
| Previous TB | 3 (4) | 13 (10) | 0.4 (0.1–1.2) | 0.11 |
| Diabetes | 10 (13) | 8 (6) | 2.0 (0.8–4.8) | 0.12 |
| Tobacco smoking (previous or current) | 26 (33) | 53 (42) | 0.8 (0.5–1.1) | 0.19 |
| Lung cancer | 4 (5) | 8 (6) | 0.8 (0.2–2.6) | 0.77 |
| HIV/AIDS | 0 | 4 (3) | 0.30 |
*TB, tuberculosis; NTM, nontuberculous mycobacteria; CI, confidence interval; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
†Two TB patients excluded because of missing clinical data, 4 from multivariate analysis (n = 78).
‡p value from multivariate analysis including COPD, age, not US born, constitutional symptoms, and infiltrate on radiograph.
§54 (26%) patients excluded because of missing country of origin.
¶Fever, night sweats, weight loss, or appetite loss.
#Systemic corticosteroids, inhaled corticosteroids, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, tissue necrosis factor-α inhibitors, cancer chemotherapy, and calcineurin inhibitors.