Widely reported data may overestimate prevalence of diabetes, undiagnosed cases
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may overestimate the number of Americans with diabetes, including the proportion of undiagnosed patients, according to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The American Diabetes Association’s diagnostic guidelines recommend secondary tests to confirm a diagnosis in all but the most obvious type 2 cases. However, many epidemiologic studies don’t use confirmatory testing.
Based on a survey applying the less stringent standard, the CDC estimated 33.3 million people in the U.S. had diabetes in 2015, with nearly 24 percent of those cases undiagnosed. But when the researchers applied the confirmatory testing standard to the same data, they estimated 25.5 million people had diabetes, with about 2.8 million (11 percent) undiagnosed.
"This is good news," Elizabeth Selvin, lead study author and professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Heath, told NPR. "We're doing a good job with screening and diagnosis."
Read the full NRP story below:
Daniel joined TriMed’s Chicago editorial team in 2017 as a Cardiovascular Business writer. He previously worked as a writer for daily newspapers in North Dakota and Indiana.