Prevalence of serological markers for hepatitis and potential associated factors in patients with diabetes mellitus.
Clarissa Cordeiro Alves Arrelias, Fernando Belissimo Rodrigues, Maria Teresa da Costa Gonçalves Torquato and 3 others
PMID 30517576WHAT IT FOUND
Diabetes patients in Brazil had 16.8% markers of past hepatitis B infection and 3.3% hepatitis C antibody.
Longer diabetes was linked to hepatitis B, and no active hepatitis B cases were found.
Key findings
01Among 245 patients who had blood testing, 41 (16.8%) had markers of past hepatitis B infection, and none had acute or chronic hepatitis B.
02Past hepatitis B infection was associated with longer diabetes duration, and in adjusted analysis each year of diabetes increased the risk by about 4%.
03Hepatitis C antibody was reactive in 8 of 245 patients (3.3%), with no significant association with demographic or clinical variables.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was a convenience sample from one secondary health unit, and the 255 patients represented 39% of patients with diabetes attended in that unit in 2014. The study was cross-sectional and measured antibodies at one time point, so it cannot show that diabetes or diabetes care caused hepatitis infection. Hepatitis C was defined by a reactive antibody result, and the paper did not describe confirmatory testing for active infection. Only 8 patients had reactive hepatitis C antibody, so the absence of associations may reflect the small number of infected people. Risk behaviours and clinical history relied on self-report, and 10 patients refused blood collection.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that diabetes treatment caused hepatitis infection. The study measured antibody markers at one time point, found no acute or chronic hepatitis B, and did not test whether capillary glucose monitoring or diabetes duration caused infection.