Gender Differences in Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes and Related Psychosocial Factors

Diabetes is one of the chronic diseases which causes other chronic diseases. The incidence of it is increasing in different societies, including Iran.  This study aimed to investigate Gender  differences in incidence of type 2 diabetes and  related psychosocial factors.

This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 2019 among people with the age group of 20 to 60. All the 600 participants were married and lived in Kerman. Using multi-stage sampling, 300 men and 300 women were selected. Data were collected through a questionnaire which included 3 sections as follows: Social demographic variables, healthy lifestyle variabl and perceived stress variable. Statistical analysis was done through descriptive statistics, Lambda test, Independent sample T -test and Binary Logistic regression. The SPSS 23 was used to perform the data analysis. The significance level of the study was considered to be p=0.05.

    The mean (SD) score of physical activity for women was significantly lower than men: (7.6 (2.3) vs. 8.2 (2.7) (P=0.006) ). In the same vein, the mean (SD) score of healthy diet among women was significantly higher than men:  (18.6 (3) vs. 18 (2.4),( P<0.001) ). The rate of avoidance of tobacco and alcohol consumption among women was significantly higher than men:( 19.4 (1.3) vs. 17.9 (2.6),( P<0.001) ).  results of multiple logistic regression showed that in the group of women, the chance of developing diabetes was significantly related to perceived stress level (OR=1.21), level of sports activities OR=0.48) (and education. Education level and health diet also had a significant effect on men's odds of developing diabetes (OR=0.63, 1.35, respectively).

Among the indicators of healthy lifestyle, doing exercise in women and having a healthy diet in men were effective in predicting the risk of diabetes. In addition, the amount of perceived social stress was one of the most important psychological factors in the development of diabetes just in women. Therefore, it is crucial to recognize the factors affecting diabetes in both men and women separately. and This can be an appropriate analytical instrument for sociologists and health researchers to recognize and focus on this problem as well as for health policy makers to reduce and control harmful factors.