Type 2 Diabetes : An Independent Risk Factor for Tuberculosis: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

Objective Tuberculosis continues to be a major global health problem. We wanted to investigate whether Type 2 diabetes was a risk factor for tuberculosis in an Asian population. Methods From Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database, we collected data from 31,237 female patients with type 2 diabetes and 92,642 female controls and 32,493 male patients with type 2 diabetes and 96,977 male controls. Cox proportional hazard regression was performed to evaluate independent risk factors for tuberculosis in all patients and to identify risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes. Results During the study period, both female (standardized incidence ratio (SIR): 1.40, p