Effect of Lifestyle Modification Intervention on Diabetes Mellitus Treatment Outcomes in Tuberculosis Patients with Diabetes Mellitus in Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

There is an observed poor treatment outcome of Diabetes mellitus (DM) in patients with Tuberculosis and Diabetes (TBDM) comorbidity due to interference of drugs used in the treatment of Tuberculosis (TB) with first- line drugs used in the treatment of DM. Insulin does not interact with TB drugs, but it is not accessible and affordable to low–resource communities due to high cost. Hence a lifestyle-based intervention, which this study evaluated to determine its effect on Diabetes control in these individuals. It is a quasi-experimental intervention with two groups of 25 participants each as experimental and control cohorts, enrolled from Tuberculosis Healthcare centers in Lagos and Oyo states. The questionnaires were administered after the baseline Glycated hemoglobin (HBA1c) has been measured, repeated after 12 weeks, and analyzed with SPSS software. In the control cohort, the difference in the means of HBA1c was statistically significant at 95%CI: 1.1(0.2 – 2.1; p<0.05), indicating a worsening of blood glucose control. The difference in the means of educational scores was not significant 95%CI: -0.04(-2.8 – 2.7; p<0.05), showing no uptake. In the intervention group, the difference in the means of the HBA1c was statistically significant 95%CI: -2.4(-3.1 – 1.6: p<0.05), indicating improvement in glucose control. The difference in the means of the educational and behavioral score was significant statistically 95%CI: 40.6(37.7 – 43.6; p<0.05) indicating uptake of behavioral changes. The intervention with educational and behavioral lifestyle modifications improved the blood glucose control as an adjunct to the conventional treatment with drugs compared to the control group. Keywords: Behavioral change, Lifestyle, Treatment, Tuberculosis-Diabetes comorbidity.