Only half of at-risk adults being screened for diabetes

From Clinical Endocrinology News, 16 December 2013:

MELBOURNE – Approximately half of adults who meet the eligibility for glucose testing according to four different guidelines are not being tested for type 2 diabetes, according to data from a large survey of U.S. adults.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed data from 3,623 adults without diabetes who participated in the 2007-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

They then used four screening and glucose testing guidelines to identify the proportion of adults who met the criteria for glucose testing, and compare this with subjects’ self-reports of glucose testing.

According to data presented at the World Diabetes Congress, the percentage of adults found eligible for glucose testing varied from 36% with the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) guidelines to 80% using the U.K. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines.

The other guidelines examined were the American Diabetes Association (ADA) guidelines, which found 74% were eligible, and the International Diabetes Federation/U.S. National Diabetes Prevention Program (IDF) risk test, which found 43% were eligible.

However, when researchers then examined whether eligible individuals had in fact received glucose testing, they found that approximately half did not recall being tested. Read more.