Hematological profile of pulmonary tuberculosis patients before and after 1 month of taking anti-TB drugs

Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Indonesia ranks third in the number of global TB cases. Studies in Indonesia show reduced levels of Hb, Ht, MCV, MCH, and leukocytosis in newly diagnosed and untreated TB patients, with 60% having anemia. The combined use of hematologic markers to assess inflammatory response before and after treatment still needs further investigation.This study was conducted in several Puskesmas in Semarang to determine the hematological profile of tuberculosis patients before and after 1 month of treatment. This study used a quasi-experimental design with one-group pre-test and post-test methods. The study population included all TB patients in the third area of the Puskesmas. Non-probability sampling technique with quota sampling is used to select a sample, consisting of newly diagnosed TB patients (aged 20-60 years, both male and female, and not cases of retreatment). A total of 30 samples were taken (10 from each Puskesmas). Analysis of blood samples is performed using the automated hematology device Sysmex (KX21-N). Data were analyzed using SPSS Version 25 with descriptive statistics and paired t-test was used to compare hematologic profiles before and after treatment. The results showed that anemia often occurred in tuberculosis patients and the number of patients who experienced anemia after treatment decreased from 16 patients to 13 patients. The study also found significant changes in white blood cell (p = 0.004) and platelet (p = 0.005) counts in tuberculosis patients before and after treatment. The increase in white blood cell count after treatment shows clinical improvement, while the decrease in platelets may be due to the action of anti-tuberculosis drugs. Normocytic normochromic anemia is the most common form of anemia in tuberculosis patients before treatment, while microcytic hypochromic anemia is more common after 1 month of treatment.