Regarding to the doctor’s notes, 25 out of the total 41 (60.97%) patients did not have their diabetes controlled. Only 5 (12.19%) had it controlled, 3 (7.31%) were controlled and not controlled for at least one of the past 3 months that they visited the clinic. Finally, the charts from 8 (19.51%) patients did not have any explicit report from the doctor about the diabetes being controlled or not. Only 20 patients out of the 41(48.78%) interviewed showed records of visiting the health center three consecutive …show more content…
The medical charts of 14 out of the 20 patients interviewed there had notes that physicians had recommended patients to do at least 30 minutes of physical activity daily, of those 14 patients that were recommended physical activity, 4 were recommended to do stretching exercises. While from the 21 patients interviewed at Lázaro Cárdenas, only 6 had notes on their medical charts about promoting physical activity. Still more patients from Lázaro Cárdenas (13) clinic responded that they regularly walk as exercise compared to 8 from Bajos de Chila. In total 23 out of 41 (56.09%) of the patients walk as exercise, with 18 of these walking between 1 to 3 hours per week. None of the patients did aerobics or swimming. Bicycling as physical activity requires special attention for Bajos de Chila, since this small town is divided into three neighborhoods along the hills and the main sources of transportations are bicycles and motor taxis, but none of the patients interviewed practiced this activity. The government of Oaxaca has created a project called “Gimnasios al Aire libre” (Outdoor gymnasiums) where exercise machines with proper instructions have been established around the state for people to use it for free. A “Gimnasio al aire libre” is located right next to the Bajos de Chila clinic (go to annex, Image #1), but is not been used by the patients. Healthcare professionals need to strengthen their tactics and reinforce physical activities on their patients to improve their patients’