Chronic complications of type II diabetes mellitus in older adults

Introduction: in Cuba, diabetes mellitus is one of the most frequent conditions in the elderly. Objective: to characterize the behavior of the chronic complications of type II diabetes mellitus in elderly patients of the Medical Clinic of Family Number 5 of Caimanera municipality from September 2016 to February 2017. Method: a descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out where qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques were used. The studied population was constituted by 26 patients. Among the variables are studied the following: type of chronic complication of diabetes, age, sex, years of evolution of the disease, number of chronic complications of diabetes and level of psychological depression. Results: the most frequent chronic complication in the patients was diabetic neuropathy. Patients with fewer complications; lower age and evolutive period of diabetes mellitus complications are presented. A high percentage of patients had levels of depression between medium and high. Conclusions: the chronic complications of the DM II in the elderly patients appeared at a younger age and a shorter period of evolution, in addition to being associated with high levels of psychological depression, which makes the prognosis of the disease darker, which could increase the demand and expenses of the health services that they demand.