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. 2014 Nov 4;9(11):e111849.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0111849. eCollection 2014.

Lifestyle factors associated with type 2 diabetes and use of different glucose-lowering drugs: cross-sectional study

Sinna P Ulrichsen  1 , Anil Mor  1 , Elisabeth Svensson  1 , Finn B Larsen  2 , Reimar W Thomsen  1
Affiliations

Lifestyle factors associated with type 2 diabetes and use of different glucose-lowering drugs: cross-sectional study

Sinna P Ulrichsen et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Aims: To examine the lifestyle profile among persons with and without Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and among users of different glucose-lowering drugs.

Methods: We used questionnaire data from a Danish health survey and identified presence of Type 2 DM and use of medications through medical databases. We calculated age- and gender-standardized prevalence ratios (PRs) of lifestyle factors according to Type 2 DM and different glucose-lowering drugs.

Results: Of 21,637 survey participants aged 25-79 years, 680 (3%) had Type 2 DM (median age 63 years) with a median diabetes duration of 5 years. Participants with Type 2 DM had a substantially higher prevalence of obesity (36% vs. 13%, PR: 3.1, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.8-3.6), yet more reported to eat a very healthy diet (25% vs. 21%, PR: 1.2, 95% CI: 1.0-1.4) and to exercise regularly (67% vs. 53%, PR: 1.3, 95% CI: 1.2-1.4). Also, fewer were current smokers or had high alcohol intake. When compared with metformin users, obesity was substantially less prevalent in users of sulfonylurea (PR: 0.5, 95% CI: 0.4-0-8), and insulin and analogues (PR: 0.4, 95% CI: 0.3-0.7). Tobacco smoking was more prevalent in sulfonylurea users (PR: 1.4, 95% CI: 0.9-2.1) compared with metformin users. We found no material differences in physical exercise, diet or alcohol intake according to type of glucose-lowering drug.

Conclusions: Type 2 DM patients are substantially more obese than other individuals, but otherwise report to have a healthier lifestyle. Metformin use is strongly associated with obesity, whereas sulfonylurea use tends to be associated with tobacco smoking.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Selection of participants for the survey.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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