Burden of Active Tuberculosis in an Integrated Health Care System, 1997–2016: Incidence, Mortality, and Excess Health Care Utilization

Active tuberculosis (TB) is preventable. To quantify the potential value of prevention, we assessed active TB burden in a large health system from 1997 to 2016. Compared with a matched non-TB cohort, patients with active TB had higher mortality (8.4% vs 1.3%), mean number of hospitalizations (0.55 vs 0.10), emergency department visits (0.78 vs 0.28), and outpatient visits (14.6 vs 5.9) in the first year. TB-associated hospital use (mean number of hospitalizations and total length of stay) increased from 1997–2000 compared with 2013–2016 despite decreasing active TB incidence. Active TB is associated with high mortality and health care utilization and has remained stable or increased over time.