Needed Improvements in Diabetes Prevention and Management in Brazil

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common chronic diseases worldwide and its prevalence continues to increase. Adherence to good health behaviors provides better control of the disease. This study analyzed trends in the prevalence of diabetes among Brazilian adults between 2006 and 2016 and compared the frequency of key health behaviors between people with and without diabetes.

We analyzed data from 572,437 Brazilian adults interviewed between 2006 and 2016 by using the Surveillance System of Risk and Protection Factors for Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey (Vigitel). We used regression models to investigate significant trends in the prevalence of diabetes and differences in adherence to health behaviors between people with and without diabetes.

The prevalence of diabetes increased significantly from 5.5% to 8.9% (P <.001), being higher among women, older adults, and those with less than a high school education. The greatest increase was observed among these groups with higher prevalence. People with diabetes had a lower frequency of risk behaviors and a higher frequency of protective behaviors when compared to people without diabetes. The greatest differences were observed in the consumption of soft drinks and sugar-sweetened beverages (9.5% vs 25.0%) and alcoholic beverages (9.0% vs 17.9%), and the smallest differences were related to regular consumption of fruits and vegetables (40.7% vs 34.0%) and meats with excess fat (24.3% vs 32.2%). People with diabetes reported less leisure-time physical activity (PRa, 0.92 [P < .001]) and less transport-related physical activity (PRa, 0.84 [P <.001]) than those without diabetes.

Diabetes prevalence increased between 2006 and 2016. People with diabetes had better dietary habits than those without diabetes, but still had risk behaviors such as insufficient physical activity.