Association between overweight/obesity and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

OBJECTIVE.:To evaluate the association between overweight/obesity and multidrug resistance in patients with and without a history of tuberculosis treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS.:Cross-sectional study of secondary data from a tuberculosis cohort, which included anthropometric and drug-sensitivity testing data at the baseline visit of patients with and without previous tuberculosis treatment. RESULTS.:We evaluated 3,734 new cases and 766 with a history of having received treatment for tuberculosis. Overweight/obesity was not associated with multidrug resistance in patients with a history of tuberculosis treatment, with a prevalence ratio of 0.97 and a 95% confidence interval of 0.68-1.38. CONCLUSIONS.:Overweight/obesity is not associated with multidrug resistance in tuberculosis. Overweight/obesity is a dynamic process that may influence the relationship between the immune system and the metabolic system.