Characteristics of patients with diabetes screened for tuberculosis in a tertiary care hospital in South India

SETTING: Tertiary care hospital for diabetes mellitus (DM) in Tamil Nadu, South India. OBJECTIVE: To compare the socio-demographic, clinical and biochemical characteristics in DM patients with and without tuberculosis (TB). DESIGN: A descriptive study involving a review of routinely maintained records to capture the results of screening of DM patients for TB between March and December 2012. DM patients were first asked whether they already had TB, and if not they were screened for TB symptoms, followed by investigations for and possible diagnosis of TB. RESULTS: Of 7083 DM patients, 38 already had TB. Of the remainder, 125 (1.8%) had TB symptoms; 71 were investigated and 12 were newly diagnosed with TB. Of the 50 TB patients, 64% had smear-positive pulmonary TB (PTB). DM-TB patients were older, and had lower education level and economic status, a higher frequency of alcohol use, lower body mass index, a longer duration of DM, a greater likelihood of receiving insulin and poorer glycaemic control. CONCLUSION: Screening of DM patients for TB was feasible in a tertiary care hospital. The yield of new TB cases was low and merits further investigation. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics were different in patients with DM and TB compared to those with DM only.