Gemeinschaftsmedizin und Gesundheitserziehung

Abstrakt

A Search for Missing Pre-Diabetes Patients in a Highly Susceptible Population and a Review of the Dire Consequences of Failing to Identify Them

Charles H McGowen, David Vavrinak-Davis

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (2DM) affects 10.5% and pre-DM touches 34.5% of the American population. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 84% of that 34.5% are unaware that they have it. This study sought patients who are at risk for pre-DM who have yet to be informed of that risk or assessed for pre-DM, and to compare these findings to national averages.

In our federally qualified health center clinic (FQHC) a total of 101 patients were recruited from five cardiovascular groups and analyzed. Nine percent of patients, who had A1C values within the pre-DM range, were not informed of their risk and not undergoing treatment. Additionally, despite more T2DM in our non-Hispanic Black and Latinx populations, 58% of Black and 69% of Latinx patients with obesity were unaware of their risk for developing pre-DM. Furthermore, 42% of Black patients and 27% of Latinx patients with obesity were never investigated for DM. Future investigations should find whether this discrepancy exists among other FQHC clinics and seek the root cause behind such disparity.

Compared to the generalized American population, these data suggest that only 9% of our at risk patients live with pre-DM without being aware of it, compared to the 29% (84% of 34.5%) of American adults who have pre-DM but are unaware. The FQHC clinic involved in this study, though showing better awareness of the problem than those surveyed by the CDC, was still lacking in reaching the standard where the bar should be set.