Open AccessImpact of diabetes mellitus on indeterminate results of the QuantiFERON TB Gold In-Tube test: A propensity score matching analysis
Author(s) -
Hyeonsook Shin,
Tae-Ok Kim,
HyungJoo Oh,
Ha Young Park,
Jin-Sun Chang,
Seong Hwan Ahn,
Yu-Il Kim,
SungChul Lim,
Yong Soo Kwon
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0181887
Subject(s) - propensity score matching , diabetes mellitus , medicine , quantiferon , gold standard (test) , indeterminate , tuberculosis , mathematics , mycobacterium tuberculosis , pathology , endocrinology , latent tuberculosis , pure mathematics
Background The sensitivity of interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) in the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection could be affected by conditions of immune dysregulation. For this reason, diabetes mellitus (DM) may increase the frequency of indeterminate results of IGRAs. However, there have been inconsistent reports of role of DM on indeterminate IGRA results. Methods We retrospectively reviewed all patients who underwent QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube testing (QFT-GIT) at Chonnam National University Hospital. We collected the clinical and laboratory data of these patients. Results Of all 3,391 subjects, 1,265 (37.3%) had a positive QFT-GIT result, 266 (7.8%) had an indeterminate result, and 1,860 (54.9%) had a negative result. The mean age was 54.8 ± 18.1 years and 55.0% of the patients were male. There were 512 (15.1%) patients with DM. Multivariable analysis revealed that systemic corticosteroid use, tuberculosis, lymphocytopenia, low serum albumin, and high serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were significantly associated with indeterminate QFT-GIT results. However, DM was not associated with indeterminate QFT-GIT results (adjusted odds ratio, 0.98; 95% confidence interval, 0.69–1.41; P = 0.939). After propensity score matching, DM was not associated with indeterminate results of QFT-GIT. Conclusion In this large cohort study, DM does not affect the incidence of indeterminate results of QFT-GIT.