| Abstract: | 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.
Design A cross-sectional retrospective study.
Setting Taiwan.
Sample 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.
Main outcome measures 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 = 1.01â1.81) and 1.22
(95% CI = 1.00â1.49), 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. |
