Diabetes Prevalence and its Impact on Health-Related Quality of Life in Tuberculosis Patients

Objective To determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM), assess its influence on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among TB patients. Methods In this prospective study, eligible patients at three primary health care centers in urban slum region of South Delhi, India, underwent blood glucose screening at treatment initiation. HRQoL scores were determined by conducting face-to-face interviews using Dhingra and Rajpal (DR-12) scale at pretreatment, end of intensive phase and end of the treatment. Results In 316 patients, the overall DM prevalence was 15.8%, of whom 9.5% were known to have diabetes and 6.3% were diagnosed at TB treatment initiation. DM was more common among patients of older age (p<0.001), with higher BMI (p<0.001), with PTB (p=0.02), and with poor psychological status. HRQoL was significantly poor in the socio-psychological and exercise adaptation domains in DM patients ˃50 years of age at each visit. Older age, poor literacy, loss in workdays, alcohol use and socioeconomic status significantly predict poor HRQoL scores in DM patients. Uncontrolled DM patients demonstrated poor HRQoL at the end of the intensive phase (P=0.04) of treatment and at its completion (P=0.03) compared to those with controlled DM. Conclusion Addressing screening measures and glycaemic control along with social determinants such as literacy level and alcohol consumption could be an important means of improving the HRQoL of TB with DM patients. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.