One-Third Of Americans Don't Know They're Diabetic
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Many of those with undiagnosed diabetes have even seen a doctor in the past twelve months.
Three out of 10 adults who have diabetes – roughly eight million people – remain undiagnosed, a new study reveals. Published by the Annals of Internal Medicine, the study found this many people remain undiagnosed in spite of the fact about two-thirds of them have seen a doctor two or more times in the past year.
“Out of 28.4 million people with diabetes, more than a quarter don't know [it],” study author Dr. Mohammed Ali, an assistant professor of public health at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, told Health Day. “About 80 percent of those people are linked to a healthcare provider, and two-thirds are seeing them twice a year or more. So, through whatever means, they aren't being identified with diabetes.”
And only one-quarter of those who were diagnosed met three important goals for people with diabetes: managing blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. “The majority of the undiagnosed are in care. Two-thirds are making two visits in a year yet still are not being offered or are choosing not to take a glucose test,” Ali told Medscape Medical News.
According to Ali, many “care gaps happen because of a confluence of factors” including lack of time during an appointment for another acute condition, concerns about out-of-pocket costs for testing, and system-level factors related to how care is organized.
Diabetes continues to be a leading cause of death and disability in the United States, particularly of adult-onset blindness, kidney failure, and limb amputations, according to researchers. Ali and his colleagues also believe researchers are far from having a complete picture of the disease.
Thus, they engaged in this study. Using a concept called a “cascade of care” on a sample of 30,000 adults, they examined how many people are living with a condition and what kind of treatment they're receiving. They found in the 30 percent of the undiagnosed population, 84.5 percent report having had a usual health care provider, with two-thirds reporting two or more visits in the past year.
“The fact that they go to the doctor rings alarm bells. We're missing out on a whole lot of opportunities,” Ali told Health Day. “The answer isn't simple, but we need to identify where the gaps are. Is it high demand on physicians? Is it a system-wide problem? There are a lot of things that could be going on. It probably won't be just one specific thing,” he said.
Ultimately, the study concluded that addressing care gaps would prevent long-term complications. “There are a lot of care gaps out there still and they drive [illness] and costs to the health care system,” Ali said.