Incidence of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Pulmonary Infection, by Ethnic Group, Hawaii, USA, 2005–2019

Rebekah A. Blakney, Emily E. Ricotta, Timothy B. Frankland, Stacey Honda, Adrian Zelazny, Katrin D. Mayer-Barber, Samantha G. Dean, Dean Follmann, Kenneth N. Olivier, Yihe G. Daida, D. Rebecca Prevots*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

To further clarify differences in the risk for nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary infection (NTM-PI) among ethnic populations in Hawaii, USA, we conducted a retrospective cohort study among beneficiaries of Kaiser Permanente Hawaii (KPH). We abstracted demographic, socioeconomic, clinical, and microbiological data from KPH electronic health records for 2005–2019. An NTM-PI case-patient was defined as a person from whom >1 NTM pulmonary isolate was obtained. We performed Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate incidence of NTM-PI while controlling for confounders. Across ethnic groups, risk for NTM-PI was higher among persons who were underweight (body mass index [BMI] <18.5 kg/m2). Among beneficiaries who self-identified as any Asian ethnicity, risk for incident NTM-PI was increased by 30%. Low BMI may increase susceptibility to NTM-PI, and risk may be higher for persons who self-identify as Asian, independent of BMI.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1543-1550
Number of pages8
JournalEmerging Infectious Diseases
Volume28
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2022
Externally publishedYes

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