A cross-sectional study on occurrence of type 2 diabetes among patients admitted with chronic liver diseases in a medical college in Kolkata

Abstract

Objectives: To study the magnitude of the problem of type 2 diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose intolerance among the patients with various types of chronic liver diseases and to find out the association of diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance with the demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients. Materials and Methods: This observational study, which was cross-sectional in design, was undertaken in the Department of General Medicine at a medical College in Kolkata during October 2010 to July 2011. Altogether 161 patients diagnosed with chronic liver disease (CLD) were admitted in the General Medicine ward during the study period, out of which 9 patients got themselves discharged against medical advice. From the remaining 152 patients, a total of 136 patients aged 20 years and above were selected for the study according to the inclusion criteria. A detailed history was taken, and a thorough clinical examination was done followed by further investigations, all of which were recorded in a pre-designed, structured proforma. Results : Among the study subjects, 58.1% had impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), while 14.0% had overt diabetes mellitus. IGT and diabetes were significantly higher among the CLD patients aged 45 years or more (P Conclusion: It can be concluded that the occurrence of diabetes and IGT could be a matter of great concern in CLD patients, indicating towards the need for regular monitoring of the glycemic status in these patients, which would have a definite bearing upon the treatment strategy.