Socio-demographic caracteristics and prevalence of risk factors in a hypertensive and diabetics population: a cross-sectional study in primary health care in Brazil

• Published in: BMC public health Vol. 16; no. 1; p. 573
• Main Authors: Baldisserotto, Julio, Kopittke, Luciane, Nedel, Fulvio Borges, Takeda, Silvia Pasa, Mendonça, Claunara Schilling, Sirena, Sérgio Antonio, Diercks, Margarita Silva, de Lima, Lena Azeredo, Nicolau, Belinda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 15-07-2016; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Brazil - epidemiology; Chronic conditions; Chronic Disease; Chronic diseases; Chronic illnesses; Classification; Community health care; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data collection; Demographics; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes Mellitus - epidemiology; Economic factors; Female; Health care; Health problems; Health services; Humans; Hypertension; Hypertension - epidemiology; Information returns; Lifestyles; Male; Middle Aged; Morbidity; Mortality; Population studies; Prevalence; Prevalence studies (Epidemiology); Primary care; Primary health care; Primary Health Care - statistics & numerical data; Public health; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; Self-assessment; Service evaluation; Sex Distribution; Social factors; Socioeconomic Factors; Socioeconomics; Studies; Brazil; Rio Grande do Sul Brazil; Hypertension; Chronic diseases; Self-assessment; Service evaluation; Primary health care; Diabetes mellitus
• ISSN: 1471-2458; 1471-2458
• DOI: 10.1186/s12889-016-3230-7

Systemic arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus, and their related morbidity and mortality, are currently the most common public health problems and also a higher burden of disease in Brazil. They represent a real challenge for primary health care. This study describes the methodology and baseline data of an adult population with hypertension and diabetes attending in primary health care.
It is a cross sectional study which presents data from a longitudinal research. 3784 adults were randomly selected from the registry of a health service in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The eligibility criteria were: confirmed diagnosis of hypertension and/or diabetes, consulted at least once in the prior 3 years and 18 years of age or older. Home data collection consisted of a questionnaire with information on demographic, medical history, life style and socio-economic factors.
A total of 2482 users were interviewed (response rate of 71 %). The median age was 64 (IQR = 55.7) and the majority were women (68 %), and married (52 %). Whereas 66.5 % (CI 95 % 64.5-68.3) of the sample had only hypertension, 6.5 % (CI 95 % 5.5-7.5) had diabetes and 27.1 % (CI 95 % 25.3-28.8) had both diseases. The prevalence of diseases increased with age and with fewer years of study (p < 0.05). Subjects with both diseases had significantly more associated comorbidities.
Hypertension and diabetes are more prevalent in older individuals, especially women, and less educated people. People suffering with both chronic conditions simultaneously are more likely to have additional comorbidities.