Objective: To characterize the profile of people with diabetes, according to sociodemographic, clinical and laboratory variables.
Method:Cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, conducted with 110 people with diabetes mellitus treated at an outpatient follow-up clinic of a teaching hospital in João Pessoa -PB, Brazil, from February to June/2015. A form contemplating sociodemographic, clinical and laboratory variables was used for data collection. As for the analysis, descriptive statistics was used, measuring categorical variables, mean and standard deviation for numeric variables.
Results:The study revealed that the socio-demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics increase the risk of morbidity and mortality for the people studied, as well as being impediments to the realization of self-care.
Conclusion:The importance of achieving education for self-care was evident. Many of the identified factors can be modified when the person with diabetes has knowledge about their health-disease process, promoting positive attitudes in their care.