Diabetes Mellitus and Associated Factors in Slovakia: Results from the European Health Interview Survey 2009, 2014, and 2019

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a high-risk non-communicable disease with an emerging burden for the European Union (EU) member states in the past decades. The unfavorable trend of the burden is striking compared to the declining disease burden due to cardiovascular diseases or stagnation of neoplasms. The goal of this study is to describe the temporal changes of diabetes in the adult population of Slovakia through the three European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) waves and to assess the association between DM and socioeconomic and/or lifestyle characteristics. These cross-sectional studies were carried out using microdata derived from Slovakia’s EHISs conducted in the years 2009 (n = 4972), 2014 (n = 5490), and 2019 (n = 5527). The DM variable was compared to the independent variables such as sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics including dietary patterns and physical activity. DM prevalence for the EHIS in 2009, 2014, and 2019 were 6.1%, 8.2%, and 9.8%, respectively. In bivariate analysis, the relationship between DM and age, education level, job status, BMI, walking for at least 10 min, and physical activity was significant in the three EHISs. In 2014 and 2019, there was an inverse association between the risk of DM and walking regularly. There was no association between the frequency of eating fruits or vegetables and DM, with the exception of 2009, where a negative association between eating vegetables one to six times a week and DM was observed. Present health policies and activities in Slovakia were unable to reverse the increasing DM burden, indicating that a more systematic approach is needed. Complex policy strategies and legislative measures must be developed and implemented at both the national and EU levels.

Lifestyle and metabolic risk factors, and diabetes mellitus prevalence in European countries from three waves of the European Health Interview Survey

“…The age-standardized prevalence of DM in EU countries showed a progressive increase between 2009 and 2019 (7.01% to 7.97%, respectively). This is line with previous studies which have reported increasing trend in DM prevalence rate over time across EU member states [25][26][27][28] . A systematic review including 10 EU member states reported that not only the prevalence of DM is increasing from 2009, but also the incidence and the mortality of the disease 3 .…”

Influenza Vaccination Coverage among People with Self-Reported Cardiovascular Diseases—Findings from the Hungarian Implementation of the European Health Interview Survey

“…These surveys were supervised by Eurostat, ensuring a high quality of data collection, which could be considered as a potential strength of this study. Population health surveys are a particularly useful way to draw conclusions about the respondents' health status, health behavior, and satisfaction with health services [36][37][38][39]. The analysis highlighted the longitudinal trends in influenza vaccination coverage among patients with cardiovascular diseases.…”

Is lifestyle Modification the Key to Counter Chronic Diseases?

“…In the present Special Issue, several articles focus on the effects of nutritional interventions on cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, and increased body weight. According to Mahrouseh et al, eating vegetables several times a week in addition to performing physical exercise may reduce the risk of DM, although more lifestyle characteristics and socioeconomic conditions possibly underlie the increased prevalence of diabetes in Slovakia and other European countries [ 8 ]. The association between high fructose consumption and hypertension is controversial.…”