Biochemical profile of people with diabetes mellitus and hypertension in primary health care

Abstract

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) are chronic non-communicable diseases that are associated with a high risk of mortality. Objective: To analyze the laboratory profile of people with DM and SAH followed up in primary health care. Methods: Descriptive and cross-sectional study, with a sample of 345 people being monitored by family health strategies belonging to two Basic Health Units in the urban area of the city of Santarém, Pará, Brazil. Participants were divided into four groups according to their diagnosis: SAH; DM; both (DM-SAH); or neither (NO). Socioeconomic and clinical information was collected from the participants, with subsequent blood collection for biochemical variables. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis, adopting a significance of p<0.05. Results: In all groups, female participants, married, brown, with an income of up to two salaries, 4-7 years of schooling, non-smokers, and non-alcoholics predominated. Compared to NO, DM was associated with altered values for glucose (p<0.001), HDL-c (p=0.048), urea (p=0.025), creatinine (p<0.001), and hemoglobin (p=0.002). DM-SAH was associated with the presence of alterations in glucose (p<0.001), urea (p<0.001), creatinine (p=0.005), and glomerular filtration rate (p=0.004). Conclusion: In conclusion, the results using the proposed method indicate that the presence of DM and/or SAH is able to negatively modify the biochemical profile. In addition, the importance of monitoring this population in primary health care was demonstrated, since some people presented potentially worrying biochemical alterations that are not being followed up.