Health Care Visits as a Risk Factor for Tuberculosis in Taiwan

A Population-Based Case–Control Study

Bibliographic Data

ID11019100
AuthorsSung-Ching Pan (Sung-Ching Pan and Chi-Tai Fan are with the Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. Chien-Chou Chen, Yi-Ting Chiang, and Hsien-Ho Lin are with Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei. Hsing-Yi Chang is with the Center for Health Policy Research and Development, National Health Research Institutes, Taipan, Taiwan.), Sung‐Ching Pan (0000-0003-3154-6690, National Health Research Institutes), Chien-Chou Chen (Sung-Ching Pan and Chi-Tai Fan are with the Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. Chien-Chou Chen, Yi-Ting Chiang, and Hsien-Ho Lin are with Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei. Hsing-Yi Chang is with the Center for Health Policy Research and Development, National Health Research Institutes, Taipan, Taiwan.), Chien‐Chou Chen (0000-0001-5167-2630, National Health Research Institutes), Yi-Ting Chiang (Sung-Ching Pan and Chi-Tai Fan are with the Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. Chien-Chou Chen, Yi-Ting Chiang, and Hsien-Ho Lin are with Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei. Hsing-Yi Chang is with the Center for Health Policy Research and Development, National Health Research Institutes, Taipan, Taiwan.), Yi‐Ting Chiang (National Health Research Institutes), Hsing-Yi Chang (0000-0002-8203-5439, Sung-Ching Pan and Chi-Tai Fan are with the Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. Chien-Chou Chen, Yi-Ting Chiang, and Hsien-Ho Lin are with Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei. Hsing-Yi Chang is with the Center for Health Policy Research and Development, National Health Research Institutes, Taipan, Taiwan.), Chi-Tai Fang (Sung-Ching Pan and Chi-Tai Fan are with the Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. Chien-Chou Chen, Yi-Ting Chiang, and Hsien-Ho Lin are with Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei. Hsing-Yi Chang is with the Center for Health Policy Research and Development, National Health Research Institutes, Taipan, Taiwan.), Chi‐Tai Fang (0000-0002-7380-1699, National Health Research Institutes), Hsien-Ho Lin (0000-0002-7481-6016, Sung-Ching Pan and Chi-Tai Fan are with the Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. Chien-Chou Chen, Yi-Ting Chiang, and Hsien-Ho Lin are with Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei. Hsing-Yi Chang is with the Center for Health Policy Research and Development, National Health Research Institutes, Taipan, Taiwan.)
Year2016
Volume106
Issue7
Pages1323-1328
Publication date2016-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2016.303152
PMID27196655
OpenAlexW2401678361
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited19

Objectives. To assess whether health care visits of nontuberculous patients are a risk factor for contracting tuberculosis. Methods. We conducted a case–control study nested within the cohort of 1 million individuals from the health insurance database in Taiwan between 2003 and 2010. We identified incident cases of tuberculosis through International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes and prescription of antituberculosis drugs. We identified 4202 case participants and 16 808 control participants matched by age, gender, and date of diagnosis to estimate the association between frequency of health care visits and incidence of tuberculosis. Results. Frequency of health care visits was associated with increased risk of tuberculosis in a dose-dependent manner after adjustment for other medical comorbidities (P for trend Conclusions. Frequent health care visits of nontuberculous patients appear to be a risk factor for contracting tuberculosis. Public Health Implications. Efforts should focus on educating the general population to avoid unnecessary hospital visits, strengthening active case finding, and intensifying infection control in all health care settings

Case-control study · Environmental health · Family medicine · Population · Risk factor · Tuberculosis · Demography · Healthcare Systems and Reforms · Internal Medicine · Medicine · Pneumonia and Respiratory Infections · Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology · Gerontology