Self-Perceived Health Status of Patients with Newly Diagnosed Diabetes in Spain: Associated Factors and Sex...

Background/Objectives: Multiple studies indicate that self-perceived health accurately reflects a person's overall health, and that poor self-perceived health is associated with chronic diseases, the use of health services, increased health expenditure, and mortality. There is little research on this topic in people with newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus (DM). The objectives of this study were to analyse self-perceived health in adult patients with newly diagnosed DM (mostly T2DM, but also T1DM), identify associated characteristics, including a Mediterranean diet and physical activity, and examine differences by sex. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 796 patients. Participants were evaluated through physical examination, electronic medical records, self-perceived health assessment, lifestyle, personal and family history, and laboratory parameters. A multivariate analysis was performed on the total sample and on sex subgroups to identify factors associated with self-perceived health. Results: In total, 25.8% of participants reported poor/fair health (33.4% women, 20.2% men). The variables associated with poorer self-reported health were being female, a lack of family support, morbid obesity, low physical activity, and anxiety/depression. In women: morbid obesity, cancer, and antiplatelet therapy. In men: lack of family support, age < 60, anxiety/depression, low physical activity, and previous treatment with ACEIs/ARBs. Conclusions: Poor self-perceived health is common in patients newly diagnosed with diabetes, similar to the general population. The factors found explained 24.2% of the variance and showed different associations by sex. The cross-sectional design did not allow for inferences of causality. These findings could suggest personalised interventions to address psychosocial and lifestyle factors at the onset of diabetes.