Introduction: Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) is emerging as a global public health problem. Its treatment is more expensive and difficult, and the outcomes much severe. The identification of risk factors for XDR-TB is of paramount importance to design effective TB control strategies.
Objective: To review published articles on risk factors for XDR-TB.
Methods: We identified 249 English articles on PubMed, and 182 were excluded by the abstract. The remaining articles were retrieved for full-text detailed evaluation by authors, and 27 relevant articles were selected for final review.
Results: Some risk factors were consistently present, mainly previous TB treatment and its length. Other conditions often associated were immigration, alcoholism and HIV coinfection. Pre-XDR-TB points to an increased risk of XDR-TB.
Conclusion: The information regarding determinants of XDR-TB is relatively weak. However, special emphasis should be given to minimize the risks of TB retreatment to prevent the emergence of highly resistant TB.
Keywords: XDR-TB; drug resistance; extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis; risk factors.
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.