Health risk factors among adult individuals with and without diabetes in Brazil: Vigitel (2020–2023)

Abstract

Objective

This study aimed to analyze the risk factors associated with diabetes mellitus (DM) among Brazilian adults.

Study design

Cross-sectional study.

Methods

Data of 75,860 Brazilian adults (≥18 years) were collected using the Surveillance System for Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey (Vigitel) (2020–2023). Variables assessed included self-reported medical diagnosis of DM, sociodemographic factors (sex, age, schooling, marital status) and DM risk factors (regular consumption of sweetened beverages (≥5 times/week), infrequent consumption of fruits and vegetables, and beans (<5 times/week), insufficient physical activity, prolonged screen time on cell phones, computers, tablets (CCT), and television (TV), smoking, heavy episodic drinking, excess weight, and obesity). Logistic regression models estimated crude and adjusted odds ratio (aOR) (adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics) for the association between the risk factors and the presence of DM.

Results

The overall prevalence of self-reported DM in the population was 9.2%. There was a lower chance of regular consumption of sweetened beverages (aOR 0.79; 95% CI: 0.65–0.97) and heavy episodic drinking (aOR 0.77; 95% CI: 0.65–0.93) and a greater chance of insufficient physical activity (aOR 1.40; 95% CI: 1.25–1.55), prolonged TV screen time (aOR 1.22; 95% CI: 1.09–1.36), excess weight (aOR 1.62; 95% CI: 1.44–1.82) and obesity (aOR 1.87; 95% CI: 1.67–2.10) among individuals with DM.

Conclusion

There was a lower chance of regular consumption of sweetened beverages and heavy episodic drinking among individuals with DM and a greater chance of insufficient physical activity, prolonged TV screen time, excess weight, and obesity, among that.