The Effect of Nutritional Intake on Weight Change in Tuberculosis Patients Undergoing Antituberculous Therapy

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the effect of nutritional intake on weight change in tuberculosis patients undergoing anti tuberculosis treatment.
Methods: It was a cross sectional study conducted at Pulmonology Department, Gulab Devi Hospital Lahore. Both male and female patients “with” age 10 years and above suffering from tuberculosis were included in the study. The weight of the patient at the start of the treatment was obtained and followed for six month. Demographic information of patient (name, age, sex, address) was obtained and frequency of weight change was recorded. Nutritional intake of patients was monitored through food frequency questionnaire. All the data was entered on a predesigned questionnaire. Data was entered, cleaned and analyzed using SPSS version 24.0.
Results: In this study 224 patients were included with mean age of 35.06 ± 17.6 years (range 10 to 80 years). One hundred and thirty-two (58.9%) were males while 92 (41.1%) were females. One hundred and forty six (65.2%) were married while 78 (34.8%) were unmarried. Mean weight change in all 224 patients was 2.95 ± 3.11 kg. It was observed that patients taking legumes, rice, sugar and apple in diet had weight gain with statistically significant difference. It was further observed that greater mean intake of oranges, tomatoes, lemons and spinach was associated with no weight gain with statistically significant difference.
Conclusion: In conclusion, certain food types (legumes, rice, sugar and apple) when used in conjunction with chemotherapy for tuberculosis treatment helps gain weight and leads to better treatment outcome.

How to cite: Changazi H.S.,Rahman A. U., Bilal M. S., Bhatti S., Iqbal Z., Ahmed A. Q., The Effect of Nutritional Intake on Weight Change in Tuberculosis Patients Undergoing Antituberculous Therapy. Esculapio - JSIMS 2021;17(03):