Prevalence and factors affecting occurrence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in Saudi patients with chronic liver disease

Background/Aim: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM-2) is more common in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) in general and chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in particular. We aimed to determine the prevalence and factors affecting the occurrence of DM-2 in Saudi patients with CLD. Materials and Methods: Retrospective study at the King Fahd Central Hospital (KFCH), Gizan, Saudi Arabia. A total of 277 patients with either cirrhosis (CH) or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were analyzed for patient demographics, severity of liver disease, HBsAg, and anti-HCV, associated diseases including DM-2, and presence of HCC. The prevalence of DM-2 was also estimated in 400 age- and sex-matched Saudi patients admitted for various nonliver diseases (control group). Chi-square test, univariate analysis, and multivariate regression. Results: Prevalence of DM-2 in patients with CH was higher than in controls (19.2 vs. 9.2%; P = 0.001). Although those with HCC had a higher prevalence, the difference was not significant (10.9 vs. 9.2%; P = 0.5). Seventy-six percent of patients with HCC had associated CH. On multivariate analysis, age and hypertension were more common in diabetics. Although patients with HCV-related disease had a higher prevalence of DM-2 compared to HBV-related disease, the difference was not significant (26.3 vs. 15.7%; P > 0.05). Conclusions: DM-2 occurred more frequently in CLD patients, particularly in cirrhotics. Age and hypertension predicted the occurrence of DM-2. Small sample size of patients with HCV-related CH probably precluded higher prevalence of DM-2 in them.