Risk of Adverse Infant Outcomes Associated with Maternal Tuberculosis in a Low Burden Setting: A Population-Based Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Background. Maternal tuberculosis (TB) may be associated with increased risk of adverse infant outcomes.Study Design. We examined the risk of low birth weight (LBW), small for gestational age (SGA), and preterm birth (<37 weeks) associated with maternal TB in a retrospective population-based Washington State cohort using linked infant birth certificate and maternal delivery hospitalization discharge records. We identified 134 women with births between 1987 and 2012 with TB-associated ICD-9 diagnosis codes at hospital delivery discharge and 536 randomly selected women without TB, frequency matched 4 : 1 on delivery year. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed to compare the risk of LBW, SGA, and preterm birth between infants born to mothers with and without TB.Results. Infants born to women with TB were 3.74 (aRR 95% CI 1.40–10.00) times as likely to be LBW and 1.96 (aRR 95% CI 0.91–4.22) as likely to be SGA compared to infants born to mothers without TB. Risk of prematurity was similar (aRR 1.01 95% CI 0.39–2.58).Conclusion. Maternal TB is associated with poor infant outcomes even in a low burden setting. A better understanding of the adverse infant outcomes associated with maternal TB, reflecting recent trends in US TB epidemiology, may inform potential targeted interventions in other low prevalence settings.