Title : Diabetes mellitus and Human Immunodeficiency virus infection in active tuberculosis patients: A hospital based cross sectional study from India
Abstract:
Background: India bears a high burden of both Tuberculosis and diabetes. Human Immunodeficiency virus infection has also become a major public health problem. This study was done to estimate the burden of diabetes and HIV infection among patients with active Tuberculosis infection attending a tertiary care hospital in north India.
Methods: This was an observational study for which data available for TB patients on Nikshay portal, the health management information system of TB in India was searched retrospectively to determine the frequency co-morbidities with TB in people aged more than 18 years.
Results: Total 4262 patients were enrolled over a six-month period (January to June 2024) of which 2465 (57.8%) were males and 1797 (42.1%) were females. Among the 3033 newly diagnosed cases of TB, 104 (3.4%) had DM, 59 (1.9%) had HIV infection, 140 (4.6%) had a history of smoking and 53 (1.7%) also consumed alcohol. Among the 1229 patients on treatment with anti-tubercular drugs, 48 (3.9%) had DM, 6 (0.5%) had HIV infection, 50 (4.1%) were smokers and 12(0.9%) were alcoholic. HIV infection was found to be significantly higher among cases with extrapulmonary TB (p value= 0.0003) than those with pulmonary TB. Diabetes, smoking and alcohol consumption were not significantly associated with site of TB (p values = 0.07, 0.44 and 0.57 respectively).
Conclusion: A moderate frequency of diabetes and HIV infection was found in patients with active tuberculosis. It is essential to screen all the TB patients for these conditions as they affect the outcome of TB treatment.
