Statistical analysis.

All data are presented as medians and interquartile ranges (IQRs) for continuous variables and as numbers (percentages) for categorical variables. Data were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test for continuous variables and the Pearson χ² test or Fisher's exact test for categorical variables. Trends in serial changes in AFB culture positivity were analyzed with generalized estimating equations. In order to assess the associated factors for culture conversion, univariate and multivariate analyses with a logistic regression were performed by including variables that had a P value of <0.20 on univariate analysis in the regression. All analyses were performed using SAS (version 9.4) software (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA). Two-sided P values of <0.05 were considered statistically significant for all analyses.