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Tuberculosis risk among people with diabetes mellitus in Sub‐Saharan Africa: A systematic review
Author(s) -
Obels Ilja,
Ninsiima Sandra,
Critchley Julia A.,
Huangfu Peijue
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/tmi.13733
Subject(s) - tuberculosis , diabetes mellitus , medicine , environmental health , pathology , endocrinology
Abstract Objectives People with diabetes mellitus (DM) have a higher tuberculosis (TB) risk, but the evidence from sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) was scarce until recently and not included in earlier global summaries. Therefore, this systematic review aims to determine the risk of active TB disease among people with DM in SSA and whether HIV alters this association. Methods Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Global Health and African Index Medicus were searched between January 1980 and February 2021. Cohort, case‐control and cross‐sectional studies from SSA, which assessed the association between DM and active TB, were included if adjusted for age. Two researchers independently assessed titles, abstracts, full texts, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias. Estimates for the association between DM and TB were summarised using a random effects meta‐analysis. PROSPERO: CRD42021241743. Results Nine eligible studies were identified, which reported on 110,905 people from 5 countries. Individual study odds ratios (OR) of the TB–DM association ranged from 0.88 (95% CI 0.17–4.58) to 10.7 (95% CI 4.5–26). The pooled OR was 2.77 (95% CI 1.90–4.05). High heterogeneity was reduced in sensitivity analysis (from I 2 = 57% to I 2 = 6.9%), by excluding one study which ascertained DM by HbA1c. Risk of bias varied widely between studies, especially concerning the way in which DM status was determined. Conclusions There is a strong positive association between DM and active TB in SSA. More research is needed to determine whether HIV, a key risk factor for TB in SSA, modifies this relationship.