Browsing by Author "Costa, Elsa"
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- Clustering of behavioural risk factors in the Portuguese population: data from National Health Interview SurveyPublication . Costa, Elsa; Dias, Carlos Matias; Oliveira, Luísa; Gonçalves, LuziaGiven that behaviour-related risk factors cluster together in individuals and populations it is important to study their patterns to inform Public Health interventions and decisions aimed at controlling disease and promoting health. This study examines the clustering and variation across different socio-demographic groups of four major behavioural risk factors (smoking, heavy drinking, physical inactivity and unhealthy diet) in two groups of the Portuguese adult population, one with and one without diabetes. Methods: The study population was derived from the 2005/2006 National Health Interview Survey for Portugal. Clustering was evaluated by comparing the observed and expected frequency of the different possible combinations of the four risk factors. A binary multiple logistic regression model was fitted to examine the socio-demographic variation in the clustering of the four risk factors. Results: Among the Portuguese population (584,286 individuals surveyed), 8.9% of diabetics and 19.5% of non diabetics accumulated two or three behavioural risk factors. Behavioural risk factors are explored considering all possible multiple combinations (k=16). The most frequent combination was smoking and unhealthy diet. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the likelihood of individuals having two or more risk behaviours simultaneously was greater in men 35-44 years old and lower education level both in diabetics and in non diabetics.
- Dietary Patterns of the Portuguese Population with and Without Self-Reported Diabetes: Data from the Fourth National Health Interview SurveyPublication . Costa, Elsa; Oliveira, Luisa; Gonçalves, Luzia; Dias, Carlos MatiasIntroduction: Given that it is not known how the dietary recommendations are followed in the diabetic population in Portugal, the general purpose of this work was to compare the dietary pattern reported by the Portuguese population with and without self-reported diabetes by combining self reported information about eating habits. Materials and methods: The study sample was derived from the fourth Portuguese National Health Interview Survey (n=41,193 respondents, aged 15 years and older living in private households). After excluding subjects with incomplete data, the study population comprised 2973 individuals with diabetes (1246 men; 1709 women) and 32244 individuals without diabetes (15536 men; 16708 women). Latent Class Analysis (LCA) statistical techniques were used to classify individuals in different groups. Results: Two latent classes: unhealthy dietary pattern (class 1) and healthy dietary pattern (class 2) were identified for people with and without diabetes. The highest proportion of participants was classified into the class of unhealthy dietary patterns both in individuals with and without diabetes. Analysis of the diet of people with and without diabetes was made including the following covariates: sex, age, marital status and education level. Conclusions: The magnitude of the association between class membership and some covariates yielded differences between diabetic and non diabetic groups. Taking into account the larger size of the class denoted by unhealthy dietary patterns, an important gap in dietary habits seems to emerge in this study and suggests that health promotion activities should be tailored to improve dietary patterns of both people with and without diabetes.
- Positive Self Rated Health in a Portuguese Population with Diabetes: Association with Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Behaviour Risk Factors PatternsPublication . Costa, Elsa; Gonçalves, Luzia; Oliveira, Luisa; Dias, Carlos MatiasIntroduction: Self-rated health (SRH) is a health measure related to mortality, healthcare services utilization and quality of life. Given that behaviour related risk factors do not occur in isolation, rather they cluster together it is important to examine their patterns in a population with diabetes to inform a more holistic approach in both health promotion and illness prevention strategies. This study explores the association between the patterns of behaviour risk factors in a Portuguese population aged 15 years and over with diabetes and their SRH. Methods: The study sample was derived from 2005/2006 Portuguese National Health Interview Survey. Associations with SHR were assessed using binary logistic regression model. SRH was categorized as positive (very good or good) and negative (fair, bad or very bad). Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was used to classify individuals in groups of behavioural risk factors patterns. Results: Among the population with diabetes aged ≥ 15 years (226,068 valid cases), 11% reports positive SRH and 89% reports negative SRH. Men gender, younger age, higher level of education in contrast with lower education level´s, divorced and widower marital statuses in contrast with married were associated with positive SRH in the multiple logistic regression model. Physical activity and healthy diet were associated with positive SRH, after adjusting for socio demographics characteristics. Three behavioural risk factors patterns were identified: Physically inactive (83.3%), Smokers (11.2%) and Heavy drinkers (5.5%). Conclusion: The perception of health status is essential for better planning in health, thus these findings have implications for policy makers to develop specific programmes aimed at improving public health.