Prevalence of Vitamin B12 Deficiency in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients on Metformin Therapy

Background Long-term metformin treatment in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus causes vitamin B12 insufficiency, which is typically neglected, undetected, and under-treated. A severe deficit may cause life-threatening neurological problems. This study assessed the prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiencies among T2DM patients and its factors at a tertiary hospital in the Tamil Nadu district of Salem. Materials and Methods This is an analytical cross-sectional study conducted in a tertiary care hospital in the Salem district, Tamil Nadu, India. Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were prescribed metformin at the outpatient department of general medicine took part in the trial. Our research instrument was a structured questionnaire. We used a questionnaire containing information on sociodemographic characteristics, metformin use among diabetic mellitus patients, diabetes mellitus history, lifestyle behaviors, anthropometric measurement, examination findings, and biochemical markers. Prior to administering the interview schedule, each participant's parents provided written informed consent. A thorough medical history, physical exam, and anthropometric examination were performed. Data were entered in Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA) and analyzed using SPSS version 23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Results Among the study participants, we diagnosed nearly 43% of diabetes cases in participants between the ages of 40-50 years, while we diagnosed 39% aged under 40 years. Nearly 51% had diabetes for 5-10 years, while only 14% had diabetes for over 10 years. In addition, 25% of the study sample had a positive family history of type 2 diabetes. Nearly 48% and 13% of the study group had been on metformin for 5-10 years and >10 years, respectively. The majority, 45%, were found to take 1000 mg of metformin per day, whereas just 15% take 2 g per day. In our study, the prevalence of vitamin B12 insufficiency was 27%, and nearly 18% had borderline levels. The duration of diabetes mellitus, the duration of metformin intake, and the dose of metformin were statistically significant (p-value = 0.05) among the variables associated with diabetes mellitus and vitamin B12 deficiency. Conclusion The results of the study show that a deficiency in vitamin B12 increases the likelihood that diabetic neuropathy would worsen. Therefore, individuals with diabetes who take larger dosages of metformin (more than 1000mg) for an extended period must have their vitamin B12 levels monitored often. Preventative or therapeutic vitamin B12 supplementation can mitigate this issue.