Factors Associated with Complications in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Primary Care

Abstract

Objective: To determine the risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus complications in a primary care. Methods: Observational, cross-sectional, and retrospective study, carried out on 162 patients diagnosed with T2DM from a Family Medicine Unit in Reynosa, Mexico. The data were analyzed using univariate frequency and dispersion analysis; bivariate analysis with polychoric or polyserial correlations, depending on the type of data. Finally, a multinomial logistic regression model (MRLM) with Bootstrap was adjusted to identify the risk factors associated with complications. Results: 58% (94) of the participants were women and 42% (68) men, with an age average of 61.67 years and an average of 16 year since diagnosis; 39% of the participants were overweight: 31.5% had grade I obesity and 13.58% had grade II and III obesity. The average fasting blood glucose was 163 mg/dL and glycosylated hemoglobin was 7.97%. The two main risk factors associated with complications were: blood glucose level and time of onset of T2DM. Conclusions: The percentage of complications in patients with T2DM was high, so it is crucial to focus on two factors. First of all: timely control of glycemia at the beginning of the disease is essential to reduce the probability of complications. Second, the duration of the disease. This research identifies the importance of these risk factors and highlights key strategies aimed at reducing the occurrence of complications related to T2DM, which is expected to benefit the population of the northern region of Mexico.