Study of the magnitude of diabetes and its associated risk factors among the tuberculosis patients of Morang, Eastern Nepal

BACKGROUND: WHO addresses the infectious disease like Tuberculosis, and non- communicable disease like Diabetes among the top 10 causes of death worldwide, which collectively leads to increasing mortality and premature death especially in developing countries. Hence, the present study aims to assess the prevalence of diabetes and its associated risk factors among the tuberculosis patient of Morang, Eastern Nepal. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among the 320 respondents undergoing tuberculosis treatment of Morang district. Respondents from eight randomly selected DOTS centers were selected purposively. The Fasting Blood Sugar and 2-h Post-Prandial Blood Sugar were assessed in the laboratory of respective DOTS center by the glucose oxidase method. An interview for socio-demographic and other variables was conducted using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire based on WHO-STEP Instrument for chronic disease and excerpt from DASS-21 was used for the variable stress. RESULTS: The prevalence of diabetes, pre-diabetic and glucose intolerance among tuberculosis patient was 11.9, 17.2, and 17.8% respectively. Additionally, the univariate analysis reported, user of tobacco products, current alcohol consumers, family history of diabetes and stress level, to have positive association with diabetes, while the multivariate analysis reported, the current alcohol consumer as the significant predictor of diabetes among the tuberculosis patient. CONCLUSION: A significant portion of the respondents were diabetic, impaired glucose tolerance and pre-diabetic, which supports the fact of diabetes being comorbid with tuberculosis. Hence, it shifts the focus on the bidirectional screening of tuberculosis and diabetes.