Clinical presentation and treatment of type 2 diabetes in young adults in a Colombian hospital

Abstract

Introduction: type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the most common type of diabetes, generally occurring in adults. However, there are reports which describe it in adolescents and young adults. Objective: to describe the clinical characteristics and treatment of type 2 diabetes in young adults in a Colombian hospital.

Materials and methods: a cross-sectional study from 2017 to 2019 which included young adult patients between 18 and 40 years old with T2DM who were seen at Hospital Santa Mónica in Dosquebradas, Colombia. The unit of analysis was the medical charts. Sociodemographic, clinical, pharmacological and metabolic control (HbA1c < 7.0%) variables were included. Descriptive analyses were performed, and binary logistic regression was applied (p<0.05).

Results: 124 patients were identified, 83 (70.0%) of whom met the inclusion criteria, with a mean age of 33.7 ± 5.3 years. Some 28 patients were obese (33.7%). In addition, 21 patients (25.3%) had metabolic control. The most frequently used medications were metformin in 64 patients (77.1%), followed by insulin in 46 patients (55.4%). It was determined that 51 of these patients (61.4%) were compliant with treatment. No patients received triple therapy as a therapeutic strategy. Patients with diabetic retinopathy had a probable association with having the disease controlled at the time of the study (P=0.048, OR:0.130; 95%CI:0.017-0.987).

Conclusions: young adult patients have poor metabolic control and frequent use of insulins.