Associated tuberculosis and diabetes in Conakry, Guinea: prevalence and clinical characteristics.

SETTING

Anti-tuberculosis centres in Conakry.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in patients with tuberculosis (TB), identify the associated risk factors and describe the clinical signs of the association of TB and diabetes.

METHOD

A total of 388 patients with TB selected by simple random sampling from the register of cases diagnosed in Conakry were examined and administered a capillary blood glycaemia test to detect diabetes.

RESULTS

Thirteen cases of diabetes were identified, giving a prevalence rate of 3.35% (95%CI 1.35-5.35). Four (31%) had not been diagnosed before the survey. The diagnosis of diabetes preceded that of TB by an average of 5 years (range 1-9 years). The clinical characteristics of TB (frequent exposure to infection, site and proportion of new and retreated cases) did not differ from one group to another. Increased age (P < 0.0001), obesity (P < 0.005), sedentary lifestyle (P < 0.0004), and previous family history of diabetes (P = 0.04) or obesity (P = 0.04) were significantly associated with diabetes.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of diabetes among TB patients is higher than previously estimated for Guinea. Because of frequent co-morbidity, systematic testing for diabetes among TB patients may be recommended, particularly if risk factors are present.