Correlation of tuberculosis-related anemia severity with tuberculosis-induced inflammation in children: a six-year retrospective study

Abstract Background Anemia is a common complication of tuberculosis (TB), and there is evidence that its prevalence is higher in patients with TB. Although TB is very important in epidemiology, careful investigation of TB-related anemia in children has not been carried out systematically. This study aimed to describe the details of anemia in children with TB and its association with clinical characteristics and the severity of inflammation. Methods In this retrospective study, we explored Hb levels in 103 children with pulmonary TB (PTB) and they were divided into anemic or non-anemic groups. Logistics regression analysis was used to study the associations between anemia and demographic characteristics. Spearman correlations analysis was performed to analyse the associations between the biochemical parameters and hemoglobin levels in blood. Results The prevalence of anemia in children with TB was 37.9% (48.7% showed microcytic hypochromic anemia, and 5.1% showed normal cell anemia). Compared with the anemia (n = 39) group, the non-anemic group (n = 64) had longer fever duration and increased respiratory rate (P