Factors associated with diabetes among the elderly receiving care at a specialized gerontology-geriatric outpatient clinic

Abstract

Abstract Objective: To identify the prevalence of diabetes and its relation to associated factors in elderly persons receiving care at a specialist gerontology-geriatric outpatient service. A descriptive cross-sectional study of 301 elderly persons of both genders was performed. Method: The bivariate analysis was performed using the Pearson’s Chi-square test for Independence and Fisher's exact test, considering 5% of significance and 95% confidence. A multivariate logistic regression model was adjusted to identify factors that may influence the occurrence of diabetes. Result: There was no statistically significant association between the prevalence of diabetes and socioeconomic and demographic variables, behavioral factors and health conditions. Only the Body Mass Index variable was close to being statistically significant (p=0.059). Conclusion: The result confirms the need to develop new studies on the subject to consider the particularities and specificities of the elderly population to enable the creation of educational intervention strategies aimed at this group.

Keywords

• Diabetes Mellitus
• Prevalence
• Elderly