Estimates of hypertension and diabetes mellitus prevalence according to Health Vulnerability Index in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

Objective: To estimate the prevalences of hypertension and diabetes for small areas in Belo Horizonte, according to the Health Vulnerability Index (HVI).

Methods: Ecological study with data from the Surveillance of Risk and Protection Factors for Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey (Vigitel) conducted in Belo Horizonte, from 2006 to 2013. The self-reported diagnosis of diabetes and hypertension were evaluated. The estimates of prevalence and the 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were calculated using the direct and indirect method by HVI grouped into four categories: low, medium, high and very high health risk.

Results: During the period evaluated, 26% (95%CI 25.2 - 26.8) and 6.1% (95%CI 6.7 - 6.5) of the adult population from Belo Horizonte reported being hypertensive and diabetic, respectively. According to the indirect method to obtain estimates of hypertension and diabetes prevalences per HVI, it was found that areas of very high risk had a higher prevalence of adults with hypertension (38.6%; 95%CI 34.8 - 42.4) and diabetes (16.2%; 95%CI 13.1 - 19.3) when compared to the low risk (28.2%; 95%CI 27.0 - 29.4 and 6%; 95%CI 5.4 - 6.7, respectively).

Conclusion: The adult population living in areas at high risk for health had a higher prevalence of hypertension and diabetes compared to those with a lower risk.