Prevalence and associated factors of diabetes mellitus among tuberculosis patients in Hanoi, Vietnam

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is recognized as an important comorbidity for the development of tuberculosis (TB). With the increase of DM burden globally, concerns have been raised about the emerging co-epidemics of DM and TB, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

Methods: A facility-based, cross-sectional study was carried out in all 30 district TB units in Hanoi, Vietnam. All eligible, diagnosed TB patients aged 15 years old or older were asked to provide consent and were screened for diabetes using fasting blood glucose (FBG). Pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires were used for collecting demographic data, lifestyle habits and clinical data. Identification of pre-diabetes or diabetes in TB patients was done in accordance to parameters set by the American Diabetes Association (2016).

Results: Of 870 eligible TB patients, 831 (95.5%) participated in the study. Of those, 241 (29%; 95%CI: 25.9-32.1%) were prediabetic and 114 (13.7%; 95%CI: 11.4-16.1%) were found to have DM. The risk of DM was higher in patients belonging to the age group 40-64 years (OR 6.09; 95%CI 2.81-13.2); or the age group 65 years or older (OR 2.65; 95%CI 1.65-4.25) or who have a family history of DM (OR 2.71; 95%CI 1.33-5.50).

Conclusions: This study demonstrated high prevalence of DM and prediabetes among TB patients in Hanoi, Vietnam. National Tuberculosis Programme needs to establish a systematic screening process for DM among TB patients.

Keywords: Risk factors; Tuberculosis (TB), diabetes mellitus (DM), prevalence; Vietnam.