Incidence of Urinary Infections and Behavioral Risk Factors.

This evaluation of the impact of behavioral risk factors on the incidence of urinary infections was based on a questionnaire in which 1103 respondents, predominantly women (883), participated. From the statistical processing of the data, it was observed that 598 of the respondents were of normal weight; the rest, more than half, were underweight or overweight (χ2 = 32.46, p < 0.001), with male respondents being predominantly overweight or obese (169 out of a total of 220). Most of the respondents were young (χ2 = 15.45, p < 0.001), under the age of 45 (840). According to the processed data, it was found that respondents in the age group of 26-35 years showed the greatest vulnerability to recurrent urinary infections, while the age group of 18-25 years recorded the highest number of responses related to the rare presence or even absence of episodes of urinary infections. A body weight-related vulnerability was also noted among the respondents; the majority of obese people declared that they face frequent episodes of urinary infections. Regarding diet quality, 210 respondents reported an adherence to an unhealthy diet, 620 to a moderately healthy diet, and 273 to a healthy diet. Of the respondents who adhered to a healthy diet, 223 were women (χ2 = 2.55, p = 0.279). There was a close connection between diet quality and the frequency of urinary infections: from the statistical processing of the data, it was observed that the highest percentage of respondents who rarely (57.14%) or never got urinary infections (29.30%) were among those who adhered to a healthy diet, and the highest percentage of those who declared that they often got urinary infections were among those with increased adherence to an unhealthy diet (χ2 = 13.46, p = 0.036). The results of this study highlight a strong impact of obesity, reduced consumption of fruit and vegetables, and sedentary lifestyle on the risk of recurring urinary infections.

The impact of diabetes mellitus on the anti-tuberculosis treatment outcome: a series of cases from the Republic of Moldova.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The Republic of Moldova ranks among the European Region countries with the highest global incidence of tuberculosis. Almost 5% of the cases with pulmonary TB had been diagnosed with DM in 2017. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of diabetes mellitus on the anti-tuberculosis treatment effectiveness for the improvement of the disease outcome. METHODS: A retrospective, longitudinal and case-control study, which included a total number of 252 patients diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis and distributed into a study group of 93 patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus and a control group of 159 patients without glycemic disorders was performed. The statistical analysis was performed using EpiInfo software. The statistical analysis of the differences between normally distributed continuous variables was tested with the Student T-test. RESULTS: Based on the collected data we established that the majority of the patients with glycemic disorders were diagnosed with the type 2 diabetes, associated with hyperglycemia and in half of them complications of diabetes were revealed. The age older 55 years and the low economical state were common characteristics of the diabetic patients. Tuberculosis was detected in every second diabetic patient through the radiological screening compared with the passive detection of most of the non-diabetic patients. The anti-tuberculosis treatment outcome was endangered by a higher rate of the adverse drug events in patients with diabetes, which contributed to death in 15%, lost to follow-up 7%, and therapeutic failure in 6%. CONCLUSIONS: The anti-tuberculous treatment outcome in patients diagnosed with tuberculosis and diabetes mellitus was significantly diminished by glycemic disorders, history of the previous anti-tuberculous treatment and adverse drug reactions. Individualized therapeutic approach to tuberculosis could improve the treatment effectiveness.