Pulmonary function outcomes after tuberculosis treatment in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Despite tuberculosis (TB) being a curable disease, current guidelines fail to account for the long-term outcomes of post-tuberculosis lung disease-a cause of global morbidity despite successful completion of effective treatment. Our systematic review aimed to synthesise the available evidence on the lung function outcomes of childhood pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB).

Methods: PubMed, ISI Web of Science, Cochrane Library and ProQuest databases were searched for English-only studies without time restriction (latest search date 22 March 2023).