Characterization of thalassemia major and diabetes mellitus patients at a reference center in Brazil

This is a quantitative transversal study that aimed to analyze the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of thalassemia major patients with and without diabetes mellitus. The cohort consisted of 31 thalassemia major patients from a reference center of treatment in Brazil in 2016. The data were obtained from an interview using a questionnaire containing demographic and clinical variables. The results show that 16.1% of the participants with thalassemia major had diabetes mellitus. The participants’ ages ranged from 20 to 48 years, with an average of 35 years, mostly students and starting in the formal job market. The most commonly used treatment was the oral desferasirox and the transfusion treatment interval was 15–22 days. Patients with thalassemia major and diabetes mellitus presented altered values of fasting glycemia, serum alanine transaminase, magnetic resonance imaging and bone densitometry. It was concluded that knowledge of the characteristics of this population contributes in the proposal of effective educational strategies in light of the complexity of care and the progression of the disease.