• Youngmok Park, Se Hyun Kwak, Seung Hyun Yong, Su Hwan Lee, Ah Young Leem, Song Yee Kim, Sang Hoon Lee, Kyungsoo Chung, Eun Young Kim, Ji Ye Jung, Moo Suk Park, Young Sam Kim, Joon Chang, and Young Ae Kang.
• Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
• Yonsei Med. J. 2021 Aug 1; 62 (8): 702-707.

PurposeWe aimed to determine the relationship between environmental exposure and nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) in Korea.Materials And MethodsA group of 150 patients with NTM-PD and a control group of 217 patients with other respiratory diseases were prospectively enrolled between June 2018 and December 2020 in Seoul, Korea. They were surveyed with a standardized questionnaire, and their medical records were reviewed. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated with multivariate logistic regression analysis.ResultsThe mean ages of the NTM-PD and control groups were similar (63.8±9.2 years vs. 63.5±10.0 years; p=0.737), and most patients were female (76.0% vs. 68.7%; p=0.157) and nonsmokers (82.0% vs. 72.8%; p=0.021). Mycobacterium avium (49.3%) was the most commonly identified strain among NTM-PD patients, followed by M. intracellulare (32.0%) and M. abscessus subspecies massiliense (12.7%). There were no differences in housing type or frequency of soil- or pet-related exposure between the case and the control groups. However, in subgroup analysis excluding patients with M. intracellulare infection, more case patients frequently visited public baths ≥1 time/week (35.3% vs. 19.4%, p=0.003); this remained significant after multivariate analysis (OR, 2.84; 95% CI, 1.58-5.17).ConclusionFrequent exposure to water at public baths might affect the odds of contracting NTM-PD, excluding individuals infected with M. intracellulare strains.© Copyright: Yonsei University College of Medicine 2021.

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