Background: Hepatotoxicity is very frequent and is a dangerously adverse effect of anti-TB medications. This effect can reduce the effectiveness of the treatment by compromising treatment regimens. Among these first-line quadruple therapy drugs (INH, RMP, PZA, and EMB), INH, RMP, and PZA are metabolized mostly by the liver, and due to this, are likely hepatotoxic. However, the survival times of hepatotoxicity among patients with TB in Thailand are currently not available. The aims of the present study were to assess the prevalence and survival time of drug-induced hepatotoxicity in patients with TB.
Methods: A cross-sectional retrospective study was performed to explore the survival time of the development of drug-induced hepatotoxicity among 327 patients with TB who received standard drug treatment at the TB clinic in Phichit Hospital. Data was collected from the HOSxP program and medical records from 2016 to 2018. Kaplan-Meier and Cox's regressions were used for data analysis.
Results: The results showed that prevalence of drug-induced hepatotoxicity was 6.42% and confirmed that patients with TB who were <50 years of age will be a median survival time on drug-induced hepatotoxicity is 17 days and 30 days for those who age group ≥50 years.
Conclusion: The median survival time of drug-induced hepatotoxicity among patients with TB who were <50 years of age is 17 days. So, patients with TB whose ages are less than 50 years should receive liver function tests such as AST and ALT and investigate risk behavior before receiving the anti- TB treatment.
Keywords: Drug-induced Hepatotoxicity; Standard anti-TB drug regiment; Tuberculosis.