Heather P Whitley
Accepted Abstracts: J Diabetes Metab
25.8 million (8.3%) Americans have diabetes, yet 7 million unknowingly live with the condition. 79 million (25.4%) Americans have prediabetes, yet 11% are aware of their status. Consequences of unawareness are unfortunate which leads to permanent organ damage. Simple awareness is an obstacle to disease state management and prevention. The study purpose was to determine the rate of diabetes and prediabetes in adult patients unknowingly living in a chronic state of hyperglycemia in a geographically high-risk population. Patients (n=689) were systematically pre-evaluated using the electronic medical record for eligibility criteria, as defined by the American Diabetes Associationfrom April 2013 until April 2014. Eligible patientswere offered a free point-of-care hemoglobin A1C (n=167). The study population at 6-months were 45-91 years old (mean 62.5 years), 93.9% Caucasian, 58.8% females, and obese with an average height, weight, and BMI of 67.2 inches, 203.9 lbs, and 31.4 kg/m2, respectively.61.4% and 11.4%, had an A1C ≥5.7% or A1C ≥6.5%, respectively. 50% had an A1C in the prediabetes range of 5.7% to 6.4%. 38.6% had an A1C ≤5.6%. The average A1C values for patients with euglycemia, prediabetes, and diabetes were 5.34%, 5.91%, and 7.57%, respectively. This systematic diabetes screening identified 61% with hyperglycemia and may have dramatic benefits to these individual patients and for society if implemented on a larger scale. The data also highlight the practical benefits of using a point-of-care A1C device for screening and the importance of following ADA recommendations for screening in asymptomatic individuals.
