Social vulnerability is associated with the self-reported diagnosis of type II diabetes: a multilevel analysis

Abstract

Objective: analyze the contextual factors associated with type II diabetes mellitus in Belo Horizonte. Methods: cross-sectional study with 5779 adults living in Belo Horizonte, participating in the Risk and Protection Factors Surveillance System for Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey (Vigitel), in the years 2008, 2009 and 2010. Multilevel regression models were used to test the association between contextual indicators of the physical and social environment and self-reported diagnosis of diabetes, adjusted for individual sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. Descriptive analyzes and multilevel logistic regression models were used, considering a significance level of 5%. Results: The prevalence of diabetes was 6.2% (95% CI: 5.54 - 6.92) and 3.1% of the variability of chance of diabetes were explained by contextual characteristics. Living in areas with high density of private places for physical activity and high income was associated with a lower chance of having diabetes. The areas with high level of social vulnerability were strongly associated with the chance of diabetes, adjusted for individual characteristics. Conclusion: characteristics of the physical and social environment were associated with the chance of occurrence of diabetes. Urban centers with opportunities to adopt healthy behaviors can help to reduce the occurrence of diabetes and its complications.