Multicenter screening of diabetic patients for detecting new cases of tuberculosis: an approach to intensify the case detection rate of tuberculosis in developing countries with high prevalence of diabetes.

INTRODUCTION

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem in most of developing countries. Meanwhile, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is also increasing rapidly.

OBJECTIVES

To describe the feasibility of implementing screening test for tuberculosis among diabetic patients and identifying factors associated with high detection rate.

METHODS

Study Design: Multi-center cross-sectional study. This study was implemented in the governmental healthcare settings. To diagnose TB among diabetics, we used a symptom-based questionnaire that included the symptoms of suspected TB according to the guidelines of National Tuberculosis Program in Egypt.

RESULTS

Among 4283 adult diabetics, 14 TB cases were diagnosed; 9 known TB cases and 5 newly detected cases. The number needed to detect one new case of TB was 855. Male diabetics and who those suffered from liver disease experienced a significantly higher prevalence of TB and a higher detection rate of new active cases.

CONCLUSIONS

Screening for TB among diabetics in routine governmental healthcare services was successfully implemented. Screening DM patients in countries with a high prevalence of DM will reveal a significant number of active TB cases, which will in turn improve the case detection rate of TB.