Respiratory symptoms and health-related quality of life in post-tuberculosis subjects with physician-diagnosed bronchiectasis: A cross-sectional study

Background: Prevalence, respiratory symptoms, and quality of life (QoL) in post-tuberculosis (TB) subjects with bronchiectasis are not well elucidated. Methods: Subjects who participated in the Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey 2007-2009 were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. We evaluated the prevalence of physician-diagnosed bronchiectasis among post-TB subjects. We compared respiratory symptoms, physical activity limitations, and QoL between post-TB subjects with and without bronchiectasis. Results: The prevalence of bronchiectasis was 3.3% among 963 post-TB subjects. Post-TB subjects with bronchiectasis showed a higher rate of asthma (29.6% vs. 4.9%, P<0.001) than those without bronchiectasis. Post-TB subjects with bronchiectasis showed more cough (23.9% vs. 6.7%, P=0.033) and physical activity limitations due to respiratory diseases (35.0% vs. 8.9%, P=0.033) than those without bronchiectasis. Furthermore, compared with post-TB subjects without bronchiectasis, those with bronchiectasis had lower QoL measured by the EuroQoL five-dimension (EQ-5D) index (0.84 vs. 0.93, P=0.048). Linear regression analysis found that the EQ-5D index in post-TB subjects with bronchiectasis was significantly lower than in those without bronchiectasis (difference estimate =-0.089, P=0.030), especially in the anxiety/depression component. Conclusions: Post-TB subjects with bronchiectasis had more cough and physical activity limitations and lower health-related QoL than those without bronchiectasis.