Prevalence, Incidence, and Characteristics of Tuberculosis Among Known Diabetes Patients - A Prospective Cohort Study in 10 Sites, 2013-2015

Jun Cheng; Yanling Yu; Qiongjin Ma; Zhijian Wang; Qingrong Zhou; Guolong Zhang; Shuangyi Hou; Lin Zhou; Feiying Liu; Lan Xia; Lin Xu; Canyou Zhang; Yinyin Xia; Hui Chen; Hui Zhang; Lixia Wang

doi:10.46234/ccdcw2022.004

Prevalence, Incidence, and Characteristics of Tuberculosis Among Known Diabetes Patients - A Prospective Cohort Study in 10 Sites, 2013-2015

China CDC Wkly. 2022 Jan 21;4(3):41-46. doi: 10.46234/ccdcw2022.004.

Authors

Jun Cheng¹, Yanling Yu², Qiongjin Ma³, Zhijian Wang⁴, Qingrong Zhou⁵, Guolong Zhang⁶, Shuangyi Hou⁷, Lin Zhou⁸, Feiying Liu⁹, Lan Xia¹⁰, Lin Xu¹¹, Canyou Zhang¹, Yinyin Xia¹, Hui Chen¹, Hui Zhang¹, Lixia Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ National Center for Tuberculosis Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, China.
² Heilongjiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
³ Minhang District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Danyang County, Danyang, Jiangsu, China.
⁵ Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Jiangshan city, Jiangshan, Zhejiang, China.
⁶ Henan Provincial Center for Disease control and prevention, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
⁷ Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
⁸ Center for Tuberculosis Control of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
⁹ Guangxi Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
¹⁰ Sichuan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
¹¹ Yunnan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Kunming, Yunnan, China.

Abstract

What is already known about this topic?: The association of diabetes mellitus (DM) with both increased risk of tuberculosis (TB) and unfavorable treatment outcomes has been identified by many studies (1). However, epidemic data for TB cases in DM patients is absent in China.

What is added by this report?: This current population-based prospective cohort study, conducted in ten counties located in eastern, central, and western China during 2013-2015, revealed a high prevalence and incidence of TB in known DM patients. Most TB cases were captured by active case-finding and a much higher presence of being asymptomatic among TB/DM patients was obtained.

What are the implications for public health practice?: Active case-finding should be carried out in DM patients and populations at high risk for developing TB. A TB symptom screening-based case-finding strategy is not enough; chest radiography check should be done once a year for these patients.

Keywords: diabetes patients; tuberculosis.

Copyright and License information: Editorial Office of CCDCW, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2022.

Grants and funding

Supported by the National Twelfth Five-Year Mega-Scientific Projects of Infectious Diseases in China (Grant Number 2013ZX10003-004-001)