Associated Factors of Latent Tuberculosis among Diabetics in Urban Health Clinics

Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Among the risks for tuberculosis is diabetes, which triples the risk of tuberculosis compared to non-diabetics. One of the effective strategy to reduce the transmission, morbidity, and mortality of active disease among diabetic patients is the identification of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). This study aimed to determine the prevalence of LTBI and its associated risk factors among diabetic patients in urban health clinics. This cross-sectional study was conducted at three randomly selected urban health clinics in Terengganu. Participants (n=362) were administered with Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) and interviewed to obtain the socio demographic and clinical data. Simple and multivariate logistic regression were applied to test for the significant associated factors of LTBI. The prevalence of LTBI among diabetic patients was 5.8%. This study revealed that the associated factors for LTBI were having higher glycated haemoglobin (HBA1c) (p=0.016, OR=14.23), smoking (p=0.046, OR=3.78), asthma (p=0.049, OR=5.79) and history of TB contact (p= <0.001, OR=6.92). Active screening, infection control measures and glucose controls are recommended in reducing the risk of LTBI and reactivation of LTBI.