BackgroundEvery year, millions of people are diagnosed with Diabetes mellitus (DM) and the number of new and undiagnosed cases continue to rise. Diagnosis of diabetes is usually performed by blood glucose analysis after fasting for a certain period. However, this method uses an invasive technique that can cause discomfort and even trauma to some patients which could eventually lead to behavioral changes such as avoidance of healthcare and laboratory testing. Studies that explore the diagnostic value of salivary glucose are promising due to the non-invasiveness of the test procedures and its potential correlation with blood results.Material and MethodsThe study conducted aimed to determine if salivary glucose can be utilized as an alternative to blood glucose in the screening, diagnosis, and monitoring of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A total of 75 participants were recruited and equally divided into 3 groups (normal fasting glucose, impaired fasting glucose, and provisional DM) based on their fasting blood glucose (FBG) level. Blood and unstimulated saliva were collected from each participant and were subjected to glucose analysis using the routine glucose oxidase-peroxidase method.ResultsUsing Pearson’s correlation and linear regression, a high degree and significant correlation was observed between blood and salivary glucose (r = 0.715, p<0.001). Further analysis showed that salivary glucose is 88.5% sensitive and 61.5% specific with a positive predictive value of 45.8%, and a negative predictive value of 97.1%.ConclusionsSalivary glucose is comparable to blood glucose in diagnosing and monitoring T2DM and is considered more advantageous than blood due to its non-invasive nature. Key words:Saliva, glucose, non-invasive, diabetes.

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Chronic diseases affect the overall quality of life of patients as it negatively impacts different areas in life. The review assessed and qualitatively compared the quality of life (QoL) of patients suffering from three chronic diseases namely patients undergoing hemodialysis, patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and patients with breast cancer. Qualitative assessment of previous studies using the Ferrans and Powers quality of life index was conducted. Nineteen (19) full texts were included and comprehensively analyzed. Statistically significant lower scores were noted on the health/functioning and socioeconomic domains of patients undergoing hemodialysis and no significant difference in other areas on the quality of life. There was also no significant difference in the overall scores among the three chronic diseases under study. But while the overall QoL of patients are within the same range, results suggest that hemodialysis patients experience the greatest negative impact in terms of socioeconomic and health/functioning domains in the QoL. Thus, health interventions, educational programs, and policy formulations should focus on improving these aspects. This would also call for a multidisciplinary approach to address the issues related to the quality of life of hemodialysis patients. Keywords Quality of life. Chronic disease. Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Breast cancer. Hemodialysis patients This article is part of the Topical Collection on Medicine