Situación nutricional y mortalidad en pacientes con diagnóstico de tuberculosis activa

INTRODUCTION: Tuberculosis (TBC) continues to be a global public health problem. Despite advances in treatment, it has been shown that patient’s nutritional status influences the prognosis and results of treatment. The objective of this study was to describe the nutri- tional status, diagnosis and results of treatment in patients with TBC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Historic cohort study. We analyzed adult patients older than 18 years with TBC and weight and height record at the time of diagnosis between Fe- bruary 2007 to May 2017 at Fundacion Valle del Lili (FVL) in Cali, Colombia. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A total of 388 patients were included, 52% (n=200) had normal weight and 23% (n=88) had low weight. The most frequent comorbidities were human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in 14% (n=56) and diabetes mellitus in 13% (n=52). There was no statistically significant association between body mass index (BMI) and albumin level ( p : 0.387, Odds ratio [OR]: 1.29; confidence interval [CI] 95%: 0.73-2.28). An overall mortality of 9% was found (n=35). BMI <18.5 was not associated with mortality ( p =0.65, OR: 0.81, CI 95%: 0.32-2.07). In more than 50% of the patients, hypoalbuminemia was documented at the time of diagnosis, which was associated with mortality ( p <0.001, OR: 6.23, CI 95%: 3.7-70.6). CONCLUSIONS: Knowing accurately the nutritional status of the patient with TBC could help to create strategies that allow to improve the prognosis and the results to treatment. BMI does not always reflect the actual nutritional status of the patient. The serum albumin level <3.5 g/dL is a predictive marker of mortality in patients with active TBC disease.