Background: worldwide, prevalence of type 2 diabetes has doubled in the last years, mainly due to unhealthy lifestyle behaviours. They are many risk factors associated with diabetes, however, which factors are associated with diabetes in the Chilean population remains unknown. Therefore, the aim was to determine what risk factors are associated with the development of diabetes in Chile.
Methods: four thousand and seven hundred participants from the cross-sectional 2009-2010 National Health Survey were included in this study (4,162 normal; 538 diabetics). Risk factors assessed were socio-demographic, anthropometric, lifestyle, well-being and comorbidities. The association between diabetes and risk factors was examined using logistic regression.
Results: the main non-modifiable risk factors associated with diabetes were age ≥ 45 year, female and family history of diabetes; whereas the main modifiable risk factors were hypertension, overweight, obesity, central obesity, physical inactivity and higher levels of sitting time.
Conclusion: the identification of modifiable risk factors for DMT2 is key to control and decrease the prevalence of this pathology and to improve the quality of life of the population.