Increased risk of low birthweight and small for gestational age infants among women with tuberculosis.
OBJECTIVE
As the relationship between tuberculosis (TB) and fetal outcomes remains unclear, this study used a 3-year nationwide population-based data set to determine the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes [low birthweight (LBW), preterm birth and small for gestational age (SGA) infants] among women with TB.


METHODS
A cross-sectional retrospective study.


METHODS
Taiwan.


METHODS
Linking the Taiwan birth certificate registry and the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Dataset, we identified 761 women who gave birth from 2001 to 2003 and who had received medication treatment for TB during their pregnancy, together with 3805 unaffected women matched in terms of age and year of delivery.


METHODS
Conditional logistic regression analyses were performed to compare the risk of LBW, preterm birth and SGA for mothers with TB and unaffected mothers.


METHODS
The risk of LBW, preterm birth and SGA.


RESULTS
Mothers diagnosed with TB had significantly higher percentages of LBW (8.5 versus 6.4%, P = 0.033) and SGA (19.7 versus 16.7%, P = 0.048) infants than unaffected mothers. However, there was no significant difference in preterm birth (8.0 versus 8.0%, P = 0.961) between these two groups. The adjusted odds ratios of having LBW and SGA infants for mothers with TB were 1.35 (95% CI = 1.01-1.81) and 1.22 (95% CI = 1.00-1.49), respectively, compared with unaffected mothers.


CONCLUSIONS
We concluded that women diagnosed with TB during pregnancy are at increased risk for having LBW and SGA babies, compared with unaffected mothers. We suggest that clinicians should make women with TB aware of the potential risks before planning a child.
Lin
H-C
HC
School of Health Care Administration, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Lin
H-C
HC
Chen
S-F
SF
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult