ABSTRACT
The study was conducted at diabetic clinic B.V. Hospital/Q.A.M.C Bahawalpur from December 1st, 2004 to March 15th, 2005. Diabetes mellitus and hepatitis C infections are common and emerging problems of the society. Either diabetes mellitus is common in chronic hepatitis C patients as reported initially by Ellison and co-workers or hepatitis C infection is more frequent in diabetes mellitus. We want to study the frequency of hepatitis c infection in diabetes mellitus. To study the frequency of hepatitis C infection in diabetic patients and to note any risk factors of diabetic patients predisposing to hepatitis C infection. A cross-sectionalObservational-descriptive analytic study. A total of 250 consecutive diabetic patients of either sex were compared with 6574 blood donors for hepatitis c infection. They were evaluated for hepatitis C infection by using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay [ELISA-3] which is an anti-HCV anti body test. On basis of this test, the patients were divided into two groups, anti-HCV +ve and anti-HCV -ye. Different variables of these patients were studied and compared in these two groups Variables studied were as follows:- Age, Sex, BMI, Mode of therapy area of their residence[rural or urban] Duration of diabetes mellitus, Blood pressure, Nephropathy and Control of diabetes mellitus. Among a total of 250 patients, 120 [48%] were male and 130 [52%] were female. Two hundred and forty-four [97.6%] patients were of type-II DM and 06 [2.4%] patients were of type-I DM. 22 [8.8%] patients were on insulin therapy while 228 [91.2%] were on oral hypoglycemic agents. Anti-HCV test was positive in 69 [27.6%] diabetic patients as compared to blood donors 41 [0.62%]. In anti-HCV positive group, longer duration of diabetic mellitus [15yrs 15.94%], poor control of diabetic mellitus[87%], insulin therapy[17.39%] hypertension[91.3%] and nephropathy[94.2%] were the significant vari ables while BMI, age, sex and whether they were belonging to either rural or urban area were not significant in both the groups. Hepatitis C infection is common in diabetic patients as compared to control group [27.6% vs 0.62%]. Out of diabetic patients HCV infection is more common with longer duration of diabetic mellitus, poor control of diabetic mellitus, hypertension, nephropathy and insulin therapy