Assessment of lifestyle habits and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes at a university in Goiás

Abstract

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus type 2 is an endocrine and metabolic condition characterized by chronic hyperglycemia arising from progressive loss of peripheral sensibility to insulin. Effectively, changes in diet and physical activity in the past years are closely related to the increase in prevalence of DM2 worldwide. Considering that, it is indispensable to perform an early identification of inadequate populational lifestyles in order to allow preventative measures seeking to decrease the development of this disease. Objective: Analyzing the risk factors and risks of developing diabetes mellitus type 2 among the medicine school students through the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC). Methodology: Analytic epidemiologic study through a self-assessment questionnaire. Risk factors prevalence were calculated and the chi-square test and/or the Fisher’s exact test were conducted to verify a possible association between risk factors and interviewees’ profile. 343 students have participated in the study. Results: Within the general sampling, the final score was 4.45, which is classified as “low risk”. The most prevalent risk factors were: being related to individuals with diabetes, unhealthy diet, and sedentarism. There was an association of female individuals and sedentarism, and of male individuals and overweight/obesity. Conclusions: The risk score of the medicine school students is considered low and the appearance of risk factors can be associated to the interviewee’s profile.

Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus; Life Style; Risk Factors; Students; Epidemiologic Studies.