Fat and vitamin E intake affect multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients' quality of life: A cross-sectional study.

Objective: To determine the association between fat and vitamin E intake with quality of life in patients with pulmonary MDR-TB.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at Dr. M. Goenawan Partowidig do Hospital, Cisarua, Indonesia, from April to May 2019. Ninety-two patients were enrolled in this study. Fat intake was assessed using 24 hours food recall, vitamin E intake was assessed using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), and quality of life was obtained by a short form 36 questionnaire (SF 36). Data were analyzed using Pearson and Spearman correlation test.

Results: Subjects' mean fat intake was 32.9 ± 11.1% of total calories per-day, which meant that most of the subjects consumed enough fat. Mean vitamin E intake was 4.6 ± 2.7 mg/day, which did not meet the recommended dietary allowance (RDA). The mean quality of life score was 47.22 ± 14.9. There was a significant association between fat intake and quality of life (r = 0.22; p = 0.032) and vitamin E intake with quality of life (r = 0.22, p = 0.035).

Conclusions: There is a significant association between fat and vitamin E intake with quality of life among pulmonary MDR-TB patients. Further research is needed to evaluate the intervention by modifying food intake and giving vitamin E to MDR-TB patients.