Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in Co-Morbid Tuberculosis Relapse Patient: A Case Report from Malaysia

Purpose: To describe changes in HRQoL of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patient and illustrate impact of malnutrition and Type II diabetes on relapse of PTB. Case: A Chinese male patient with complaints of productive cough, and loss of weight and appetite was registered; sputum smear confirmed that patient had PTB. Diagnosis was also supported by routine investigations. Patient had past history of PTB and Type II diabetes mellitus. For management of secondary tuberculosis, he was prescribed WHO recommended therapy. Elevated HbA1c levels and history of drop-off serum albumin concentration at the start of treatment demonstrated inappropriate glycaemic control and malnutrition over the past months. SF-36v2 was used to estimate HRQoL scores at start, after two months and at the end of TB therapy. Although patient's perception of mental and physical health improved with progress of treatment, vitality (VT), social functioning (SF) and role emotion (RE) scores were still lower than Malaysian norms. Patient was declared 'cured' but state of 'health' as defined by WHO was not achieved. Conclusion: Relapse of PTB might be a consequence of inappropriate glycaemic control and malnutrition. This case report demonstrates the need for more comprehensive efforts at TB programs to improve HRQoL of TB patients.