Body Weight Gain in Pulmonary Tuberculosis during Chemotherapy

Background: Wasting is a common feature in tuberculosis and treatment is aimed at achieving weight gain in pulmonary tuberculosis patients. It is believed that weight change after 2 months of intensive phase of treatment can help identify persons at high risk of relapse. Aim & Objectives: To study the extent of body weight gain in pulmonary tuberculosis during treatment. Methods/Study Design: This was a retrospective study. Among the patients diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, we included those that were declared clinically cured at the end of 6 months (n=40). Body weights were recorded thrice at diagnosis (PTB-0), after two months of intensive phase of treatment (PTB-2) and at the end of 6 months of treatment (PTB-6). Results/Findings: Mean ± SD of the body weights (in kgs) for PTB-0, PTB-2 and PTB-6 were respectively 41.7 ± 3.79, 43.13 ± 3.77 and 47.13 ± 3.99. When compared to PTB-0, PTB-2 and PTB-6 showed higher mean body weights (3.4% and 13% increase respectively). Repeated measures ANOVA of the three test groups showed statistical significance (p<0.001). Tukey HSD post-test between the three groups showed that the means differed significantly from each other (p<0.01 for PTB-0 vs PTB-2, PTB-2 vs PTB-6 and PTB-0 vs PTB-6), indicating that body weight was progressively increasing during the course of treatment. Conclusion: Treatment of tuberculosis should aim at achieving a higher body weight gain during the intensive phase