Prevalence of type 2 diabetes and pre‐diabetes among pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis patients of Bangladesh: A cross‐sectional study

BACKGROUND: We aimed to determine the prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and pre‐diabetes (pre‐DM) among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) in Bangladesh. We also examined the association between type of TB and hyperglycaemia as an adjunct to the primary objective. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross‐sectional analytical study recruited 350 TB patients (175 PTB and 175 EPTB) from two tertiary care hospitals specialized for TB treatment. Oral glucose tolerance tests and fasting plasma glucose measurements were carried out for unknown glycaemic status and those with previously known diabetes, respectively. RESULTS: Overall, the prevalence of T2D and pre‐DM was 19.1% (new 85.1%, old 14.9%) and 34.3%, respectively. Although the risk factors were highly prevalent among the patients with EPTB, a higher proportion of T2D (26.3%) and pre‐DM (34.3%) was detected among the patients with PTB. The proportion of impaired fasting glucose was low in both groups, but a high trend of impaired glucose tolerance was observed across the groups, with a higher proportion (35.4%) in the PTB group. Both pre‐DM and T2D showed significantly higher odds (pre‐DM, AOR: 4.488; CI: 2.531–7.958; p < .001 and T2D, AOR: 4.280; CI: 2.305–7.946; p < .001) for having PTB. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of T2D and pre‐DM was higher among the patients with PTB, and it (PTB) appeared as a predictor of hyperglycaemia. It indicates the primary intervention should target the patients with PTB to get the maximum benefit of screening to reduce the number of risk factors, disease burden and subsequent complications.