Relación entre el estrato socioeconómico según lugar de residencia y el índice de masa corporal en pacientes con diabetes mellitus tipo 1 atendidos en un Instituto Especializado de Pediatría de Lima, Perú, entre los años 2018-2022

Objective: To explore the relationship between socioeconomic status, based on place of residence, and body mass index (BMI) in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) treated at a specialized pediatric institute in Lima, Peru. Materials and Methods: An observational, analytical, and cross-sectional study was conducted through a review of medical records of patients aged 1 to 18 years diagnosed with T1DM, residing in Metropolitan Lima and Callao, and treated at an endocrinology outpatient clinic between 2018 and 2022. Socioeconomic status was categorized as low (low and lower-middle) and middle-high (middle, upper-middle, and high). BMI was classified as healthy or unhealthy weight. To evaluate the association, generalized linear models from the Poisson family with robust variance were used to calculate the prevalence ratio (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), considering a p-value <0.05 as statistically significant. Results: A total of 165 patients with T1DM were included, with a mean age of 9.90 ± 4.06 years, and 50.9% were male. A significant association was found between BMI and socioeconomic status (p=0.013). Additionally, belonging to a low socioeconomic stratum was associated with a higher prevalence of unhealthy weight (PR: 2.39; 95% CI: 1.39-4.11, p=0.002). Conclusion: Patients with T1DM from lower socioeconomic strata based on place of residence have a higher prevalence of unhealthy weight compared to those from middle and high strata. These findings suggest that socioeconomic factors may influence the nutritional status of this population, highlighting the need for targeted intervention strategies.