Prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus II and Impaired Fasting Glycemia in Patients Diagnosed with Pulmonary Tuberculosis at the Bamenda Regional Hospital - Cameroon

The rising prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and its association with tuberculosis (TB) and the persistence is a major public health problem worldwide, especially in developing countries,thus emphasizing the importance of investigating this association. This study was aimed at investigating the prevalence of Diabetes mellitus II and impaired fasting glycaemia in patients diagnosed with pulmonary TB at the Bamenda Regional Hospital .An experimental and prospective design, involving 91 patients diagnosed of pulmonary TB and 68 sputum negative patients were used as control. Venous blood was collected from each participant and was analyzed using the CHRONO LAB system chemistry analyzer to screen for impaired fasting glycaemia and Diabetes mellitus. Information to assess the knowledge and perception of both TB and DM of the participants was gotten through questionnaires. This study revealed that the total prevalence of diabetes mellitus was 29.7% while that of IFG was 16.5% amongst TB patients receiving care at the Bamenda Regional hospital compared to the 26.6% DM and 2.9% IFG for the control group. In total, 42(46.2%) of the test population were hyperglycemic (IFG/DM) compared to 16(23.5%) of the control group and this difference was statistically significant (p<0.05) More males (28%) in this study were hyperglycemic than females ( 21%) but the difference was statistically not sgnificant, 26% of alcohol consumers were more hyperglycemic than non alcohol consumers and the difference was statistically significant ( p< 0.05). The age range of 31 – 40 years had the highest prevalence level ( 9%) of DM and 7% of IFG and those below 20 years had the lowest glycemic levels. Findings from this study revealed that TB patients had a higher prevalence of DM and IFG compared to the control population (sputum negative patients).The screening of diabetes in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis is recommended for successful treatment, control and patient care of the two diseases.