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Ideal setting for diabetes screening may be dental office
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A diabetes screening tool designed specifically for use in dentists’ offices can identify prediabetes and diabetes in people who may rarely visit a physician, according to a presenter at the AACE 24th Annual Scientific and Clinical Congress.
“The main emphasis of our study is prevention,” Saleh Aldasouqi, MD, FACE, ECNU, said in a press release. “Faced with the fact that there are 29 million Americans with diabetes, of whom 8.1 million people — 27.8% — are undiagnosed, we saw an opportunity to alleviate the health and financial burdens of undiagnosed diabetes by way of the dental office.”
Researchers surveyed 500 adults (302 women, mean age 48 years) at dental appointments at a private practice in Michigan. Participants completed a 14-question survey that required no weighing or BMI calculation. The proprietary instrument included questions about weight, history of medications for hypertension and high cholesterol, bleeding gums, skin conditions and yeast infections, among other things, Aldasouqi said in a press briefing.
After completing the assessment, participants underwent a finger stick to measure HbA1c using a unique, validated capillary test, which is not currently FDA approved for point-of-care testing, Aldasouqi said.
Among the study participants, prevalence of prediabetes was 19.2% and diabetes 1.2%. Predictors of disease included age, body weight at least 10% above the ideal, waist size greater than 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women, elevated blood pressure, dyslipidemia, tingling in the hands and feet, and blurry vision, cataracts or glaucoma.
The rate of prediabetes found in this study was consistent with findings in other studies, according to researchers. They attributed the lower rate of diabetes they found to the well-educated study population and the success of health education and prevention programs unique to the dental practice.
“Our study confirmed that engaging a dental office in the detection of diabetes is an important and proactive means of screening for undiagnosed prediabetes and diabetes,” Aldasouqi said.
Reference:
Aldasouqi SA, et al. Abstract #727. Presented at: AACE 24th Annual Scientific & Clinical Congress; May 13-17, 2014; Nashville, Tenn.
Disclosure: Aldasouqi reports receiving honoraria from Jannsen, Sanofi and Takeda.