Table 1.
Summary of characteristics of included studies and participants.
| Characteristics | Study populations (n = 61) | TB participants (n = 41,014) |
|---|---|---|
| Study characteristics | ||
| Study design | ||
| Retrospective | 41 | 37,555 |
| Prospective | 20 | 3459 |
| Inclusion of comparator group | ||
| No: Only TB participants | 48 | 19,900 |
| Yes: TB patients and controlsa | 13 | 21,114 |
| World Bank income category for country of study | ||
| High income | 10 | 30,355 |
| Low or middle income | 50 | 10,598 |
| Both low and high income (multicentric study) | 1 | 61 |
| Level of care at study site | ||
| Primary care | 4 | 485 |
| Secondary care | 21 | 3793 |
| Tertiary care | 23 | 5288 |
| Mixed care | 3 | 6536 |
| Not reported | 10 | 24,912 |
| Participant characteristics | ||
| Demographic | ||
| Male sex | ||
| ≥60% of population | 28 | 13,950 |
| <60% of population | 24 | 12,111 |
| Female sex | ||
| ≥60% of population | 3 | 465 |
| <60% of population | 49 | 25,596 |
| Sex not reported | 9 | 14,953 |
| Mean age (SD)c | 45 | 41.0 (11.0) |
| Mean BMI (SD)c | 17 | 22.1 (2.0) |
| DST status | ||
| Only DS-TB | 12 | 3071 |
| Only MDR-TB | 4 | 225 |
| Mixed DS-TB and MDR-TB | 11 | 1168 |
| Not reported | 34 | 36,550 |
| Method of confirmation of TB diagnosis | ||
| Microbiologically confirmed | 26 | 6271 |
| Mixed (clinical, radiological, microbiological)b | 7 | 1833 |
| Not reported | 28 | 32,910 |
| Smoking status | ||
| All never-smokers | 5 | 1760 |
| All ever-smokers | 1 | 44 |
| Mixed | 44 | 15,640 |
| Not reported | 11 | 23,570 |
| Mean pack/year (SD)c | 13 | 12.0 (11.1) |
| HIV status | ||
| All HIV negative | 7 | 691 |
| All HIV positive | 2 | 216 |
| Mixed | 23 | 9419 |
| Not reported | 29 | 30,688 |
| Outcomes | ||
| Pulmonary function | 51 | |
| Only reported spirometry measures | 9 | 3955 |
| Reported only classification of abnormality | 13 | 2870 |
| Reported both spirometry measures and classification of abnormality | 29 | 3952 |
| Post-TB complications | 20 | |
| Lung cancer | 5 | 32,951 |
| Extra-pulmonary cancer | 2 | 11,988 |
| Bronchiectasis | 7 | 2547 |
| Aspergilloma | 4 | 1710 |
| Cavitation | 11 | 1664 |
| Fibrosis | 5 | 1403 |
| Measures of disability | 30 | |
| Medical Research Council (MRC) dyspnoea scale | 13 | 3179 |
| Six-minute walk test (6MWT) | 16 | 1491 |
| St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) | 8 | 1212 |
TB, tuberculosis; DST, drug sensitivity; DS-TB, drug susceptible tuberculosis; MDR-TB, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis; SD, standard deviation; BMI, body mass index.
a
Total Control participants included = 861,908.
b
Of the studies that confirmed TB with mixed methods, the proportion of diagnoses confirmed microbiologically ranged from 40% to 80%.
c
Shown as the number of studies in the population which reported on the characteristic, followed by the mean (SD).