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Diabetes mellitus among tuberculosis patients: a cross sectional study from Pakistan


Zarfishan Tahir
Mansur-ud-Din Ahmad
Abdul Majeed Akhtar
Tahir Yaqub
Muhammad Hassan Mushtaq
Hasnain Javed

Abstract

Background: The co-occurrence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and tuberculosis (TB) is largely associated with high frequency of morbidity.
Objective: To determine the prevalence of DM among TB patients and describe the socio-demographic and behavioral factors associated with TB-DM co-occurrence .
Methods: We enrolled 500 TB patients from September, 2014 to August 2015 at four major public sector hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan. A questionnaire was used to collect information regarding associated socio-demographic and behavioral factors of the patients. We monitored the fasting blood sugar of each patient by using a semi automated clinical chemistry analyzer followed by an HbA1c level check of all hyperglycemic patients.
Results: The prevalence of TB-DM co-occurrence was 14.8%. The prevalence of TB-DM was higher (62.2%) among males. The >57 year age group had the highest proportion of patients (35.1%), with co-existent TB-DM. Most were illiterate (73.0%) and unemployed (48%). Moreover, among the 74 patients positive for TB-DM had a history of smoking. Age and education level were significantly  associated with DM-TB while gender, occupation and smoking were not associated.
Conclusion: The study revealed a 14.8% prevalence of DM among TB patients. This was associated with several socio-demographic factors, including age,  unemployment, literacy and polluted environment. Thus, poor and unhealthy lifestyles were the factors associated with DM among immunologically compromised individuals due to TB.


Keywords: Tuberculosis (TB), diabetes mellitus (DM), socio-demographic and behavioral factors.


Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 1729-0503
print ISSN: 1680-6905