Jhiamluka Solano*, Alcides Alvarez, Ada Valenzuela and Italia Laitano
Background: Diabetes mellitus represents a public health problem worldwide; in 2014, 422 million people were reported with this disease.
Objective: Assess the risk to develop type 2 diabetes mellitus through the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISK) in people from ages from 20 to 35 years old.
Methods: We conducted a quantitative, descriptive, and transversal study with a sample of 59 patients, randomly selected with a non-probabilistic sampling by convenience. We provided a consent form, followed by the FINDRISK, assessing age, body max index, abdominal perimeter, daily exercise, fruit and vegetable ingestion, hypertension treatment, the background of hyperglycaemia and family history of T2DM. We categorized them as low risk, slightly elevated risk, moderate risk, high risk and extremely high risk according to the test score.
Results: The prevalent risk factors were sedentarism 64% (38), unhealthy diet 51% (30) and obesity according to their BMI of 20% (12). 40% (24) of the patients were classified as low risk, 46% (27) slightly elevated risk, 12% (7) moderate risk, 2% (1) high risk and 0% (0) extremely high risk.
Conclusion: The use of the FINDRISK test in Primary Health Care is a useful tool for the early detection of patients with high risk to develop diabetes mellitus type 2 and intervene promoting healthy lifestyles.
