Introduction

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM2) has an increasing prevalence and rate of morbidity and mortality. Socioeconomic conditions often influence overall patient care and drug treatment.

Objective

To assess clinical profiles and lifestyles of patients with DM2 through a multidisciplinary intervention. in primary health care.

Materials and Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted with low-income patients who were part of a Diabetes Prevention Program of a Healthcare Unit in Paraná by means of home care visits. Group 1 has received multidisciplinary home care assistance for more than seven years while Group 2 has received that assistance for less than seven years. The data was collected using a questionnaire approved by the Research Ethics Committee no. 1,617,516 of 2016. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used for descriptive statistical analysis.

Results

A prevalence of 74.7% in women at an average age of 62.2 years (± 10.3) were observed, showing a significant difference in age between both groups (p=0.001). Among behavioral factors analyzed, alcohol consumption was found to be higher in Group 2 (p=0.009), but physical activity was practiced between seven and nine times per week (p=0.045). Hypertension (82%), dyslipidemia (62%) and heart disease (69.3%, p=0.050) were some of the comorbidities reported. The time interval between general consultation and time without treatment was significant among the groups (p=0.006 and 0.002, respectively). Better adherence to continuous treatment was observed in Group 1 (42.6%) compared to Group 2 (35.4%), which translated into better adherence to insulin in Group 1 (p=0.002).

Conclusions

Both groups reported low levels of income, education and healthy lifestyles in contrast to high rates of treatment adherence and comorbidities. The group that received longer DM2 assistance had a larger therapeutic window. Despite having a structured follow-up program, recommendations from the multidisciplinary team need to be improved and adapted.

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