Increased risk of incident osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture in tuberculosis patients: a population-based study in a tuberculosis-endemic area

Summary The occurrence of osteoporosis in tuberculosis, a chronic infection, has rarely been evaluated. In this study, we found significantly higher incidence rates of osteoporosis (Adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) 1.82) and osteoporotic fracture (AHR 2.33) in tuberculosis patients than matched cohorts, which suggest that osteoporosis screening should be considered in tuberculosis patients’ follow-up program. The aim of this study is to determine the occurrence of incident osteoporosis in patients who completed anti-tuberculosis (TB) treatment. Introduction Chronic inflammatory disorders are associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis. Although TB is an infectious disease characterized by systemic inflammatory responses, the impact of active TB on incident osteoporosis is unclear. We used the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database to investigate the association between history of active TB and incident osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture. Methods In this nationwide retrospective cohort study, active TB patients and their age- and sex-matched controls were identified from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan during 2000–2012. The occurrence of incident osteoporosis, osteoporotic fractures, and risk factors associated with osteoporosis among TB patients and matched controls were analyzed. Results We observed incident osteoporosis in 2.2% ( n = 86) of the TB patients and in 1.1% ( n = 162) of the matched controls. The incidence rate of osteoporosis was 4.31 and 1.80 per 1000 person-years, which was significantly higher in TB patients ( p