Introduction:

diabetes mellitus has increased considerably in recent times and constitutes an important health problem. A high number of patients are diagnosed late, even with risk factors, which are not properly identified.

Objective:

to identify the hidden morbidity of diabetes mellitus in a population of 20 years old and over with risk factors.

Methods:

an observational, descriptive study was carried out in 102 patients 20 years old and older with risk factors for diabetes mellitus belonging to the “Ramón López Peña” Polyclinic between June and October 2020, who underwent fasting glucose measurement and glucose tolerance test when necessary. Age, sex, risk factors and the presence of symptoms and signs of the disease were studied. Descriptive and health statistics techniques were used.

Results:

70.6% were women and 49% were 60 years of age or older. Among the risk factors, excess body weight (84.3%), arterial hypertension (52.9%) and family history of the disease (22.5%) predominated. Metabolic alteration was found in 26 patients, 19 (18.6%) were diagnosed as diabetic, for an incidence of 1.97%.

Conclusions:

the existence of hidden morbidity of diabetes mellitus in the population at risk was demonstrated, in addition, other people with disorders in glucose metabolism should be closely monitored, which shows the importance of active screening to achieve an early diagnosis and avoid complications of the disease.

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