Nutritional status of tuberculosis cases registered under tuberculosis unit of Gulbarga city north Karnataka, India.

Abstract

Malnutrition and tuberculosis are both problems of considerable magnitude in most of the underdeveloped regions of the world. These two problems tend to interact with each other. To find the nutritional status of Tuberculosis patients attending Dist. Tuberculosis center Gulbarga and to study the association between different variable and Nutritional status of the Tuberculosis patients. A total of 102 patients registered during 2009 and 2010 in Tuberculosis Unit (TU) of Gulbarga district, North Karnataka were included in the study. Data were collected by review of records with a pre-designed and pre-tested schedule. Nutritional status was calculated as per The International Classification of adult underweight, overweight and obesity according to BMI for > 20 years of age and for cases age <20 years was calculated as per BMI index for age percentile charts for boys and girls 2-20 years. Out of 102 cases majority 88 (86.3%) of cases were in economically productive age group i.e. 15 to 64 years with Male predominance of 65 (63.7%) cases. Nutritional status revealed that majority 55.8% of cases were undernourished. 60% of males and 49% of females were mal nourished. A significant association was found between nutritional status and literacy status where prevalence of under nutrition was high i.e. 68% among illiterates and primary literates similarly out of 23 cases addicted to alcohol and /or tobacco majority 16 (69.6%) were undernourished. No significant association was found with per capita income, marital status and category of cases. TB treatment and care should contain integrated nutritional assessment counseling and support for the duration of illness.