Frequency of “High Risk of Developing Diabetes” in Patients Attending a Family Medicine Clinic

Abstract

Objective: to identify the frequency of pre-diabetes in patients between 20 to 64 years at the outpatient “Gustavo A. Madero” Family Medicine Clinic, in Mexico City. Method: Study: descriptive, cross-sectional, prospective. Population: non-random and non-representative sample (123 patients). Instrument: 35 variables distributed in four sections: tab identification, laboratory parameters, clinical data and a questionnaire endorsed by the American Diabetes Association (ada). Measurement: a measurement of glucose in venous blood and direct examination to those patients who agreed to participate. Results: a pre-diabetes frequency of 43.9% was found, 65.2% of the patients presented a (bmi) >30 (n=30). Important statistically differences were found in patients with high blood pressure and pre-diabetes compared to those without high blood pressure but with high risk of developing diabetes (redd), Pearson χ2 of 13.422, p=0.001. More than 70% of patients do not carry a balanced diet or physical exercise. Conclusions: the family physician should be able to timely detect the existence of redd in order to prevent or delay Diabetes mellitus type 2. This could increase in patients both hope and quality of life.