Prevalence of chest symptomatics of tuberculosis among diabetes patients in Udupi taluk

Abstract

ContextDiabetes is becoming prevalent dramatically in the Asian countries. In India, 15% of tuberculosis (TB) cases are attributed to diabetes mellitus (DM). Objectives1. To determine the prevalence of chest symptomatics among diabetes patients in Udupi taluk. 2. To assess the factors associated with diabetes mellitus which might predispose to tuberculosis. Methods and materialA cross-sectional study was done from March 2013 to Aug 2013. Convenience sampling was adopted. Interviews of 132 diabetes patients were conducted in Udupi taluk. Data was analyzed using descriptive and univariate analysis. ResultsThe study revealed the prevalence of chest symptomatics of TB among diabetes patients as 10.6%. In the study, 78.6% of subjects had history of cough associated with sputum. Approximately, two third of the chest symptomatics (66.7%) reported that they were smoking for more than 25 years. The significant association of chest symptoms of TB was found with the factors such as; history of TB (p = 0.017), history of intermittent cough (p < 0.0001), per capita income of the respondents (p = 0.023) and total monthly family income of respondents (p = 0.028). ConclusionsOccurrence of chest symptoms elucidated poor socioeconomic conditions among respondents. History of intermittent cough and history of TB in the past, contributed as a major factor for predisposition to TB. It is recommended to design; feasible and cost effective, integrated public health care approach for bidirectional screening model within primary health care system in India.