A survey on the prevalence of Diabetes in Tuberculosis patients in NIDCH hospital, Dhaka

Abstract

Since the early part of the 20th century, clinicians have observed an association between diabetes mellitus (DM) and TB, although they were often unable to determine whether DM caused TB or whether TB led to the clinical manifestations of DM. Several studies have suggested that diabetes mellitus (DM) increases the risk of active tuberculosis (TB). The rising prevalence of DM in TB-endemic areas may adversely affect TB control. Experts have raised concerns about the merging epidemics of DM and TB, especially in low- to middle-income countries, such as India and China, that are experiencing the fastest increase in DM prevalence and the highest burden of TB in the world. As Bangladesh is also a middle income & developing country, so it is very important to figure out the picture of association of DM & TB in Bangladesh. The objective of our study was to conduct a survey among 100 TB and MDR-TB patients of NIDCH and study the prevalence of DM in such patients with associated risk factors. In our study 53% were males and 47% were females. Among them 61% were MDR-TB patient & 39% were TB patients.37% were diabetic & 63% were Non-diabetic. We found diabetic TB patients are usually middle aged male than those without DM. This may be due to an association of type 2 DM with older age. We found that males (62.17%) are more prone to TB & DM than females (38. 83%). We observed that mostly suffered symptoms of diabetic TB were increased thirst (32%), frequent urination (27%) & fatigue (26%) and weakness (59%). Majority of the patients (80%) had no knowledge that diabetes can increase the chance of TB incidence. So unawareness is a major issue which needs to be addressed by health care professionals. In our study, majority of TB patients having DM ( 24.32%) were illiterate or from college whereas minority of TB patients having DM (13.52%) were from primary education. We also observed that the clinical characteristics of TB do not differ much amongst diabetic and non-diabetic patients. From our study we also found that each & every type of TB whether it is pulmonary or extra-pulmonary, has no variation with Diabetes.