Korean J Fam Pract. 2017; 7(3): 405-410  https://doi.org/10.21215/kjfp.2017.7.3.405
Clinical Characteristics of Tuberculosis in Conscripted Policemen in Police Hospital
Nara Lee, Juhyun Lee*, Soshin Kye, Soh Yeon Ahn , Minwoong Lee, Minshik Shin, Jayoung Kim
Department of Family Medicine, National Police Hospital, Seoul, Korea
Juhyun Lee
Tel: +82-2-3400-1291, Fax: +82-2-3400-1366
E-mail: happyola@naver.com
Received: May 10, 2016; Revised: September 9, 2016; Accepted: September 17, 2016; Published online: June 20, 2017.
© The Korean Academy of Family Medicine. All rights reserved.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background: The prevalence of and mortality from tuberculosis is high worldwide. In particular, the incidence of tuberculosis among those in their 20s and 30s is high in Korea. However, few reports have documented the clinical characteristics of tuberculosis among young adults in Korea. In this study, we investigated the clinical characteristics of tuberculosis among conscripted policemen.
Methods: We enrolled 69 patients diagnosed with and treated for tuberculosis between February 2007 and December 2014, and retrospectively analyzed their medical records and investigated the clinical characteristics of tuberculosis.
Results: The average age of the patients was 20 years. The route of infection could not be confirmed in 66 patients (95.7%), and 18 patients (26.1%) had been incidentally diagnosed during military medical examinations without presenting any clinical symptoms. Sixty patients (86.9%) had pulmonary tuberculosis. Chronic persistent coughing was the most common presenting symptom, and both upper lobes were the most frequently involved. Twelve patients had cavitary tuberculosis. The number of positive results for acid-fast smears or cultures was not high, and the rate of positive tuberculin skin test was 79.5%. The most frequent adverse effects of anti-tuberculosis treatment were hyperuricemia and hepatotoxicity. Of the enrolled patients, 42 patients (60.8%) had completed treatment.
Conclusion: Pulmonary tuberculosis should be suspected in young adults who have prolonged respiratory symptoms. Routine military medical examination and contact investigation are important, and efforts to decrease the default rate are necessary.
Keywords: Tuberculosis; Contact Tracing; Young Adult
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