The Article in Brief

Diabetes: How Are We Diagnosing and Initially Managing It?

Patrick J. O'Connor, MD MPH , and colleagues

Background It is estimated that 35% to 50% of diabetes cases are not diagnosed. This study was designed to determine how diabetes is diagnosed and initially managed by primary care clinicians.

What This Study Found In nearly one half of the 504 diabetes cases studied, the patient’s diabetes was diagnosed when the doctor recognized diabetes symptoms during a visit for another reason. Primary care practices can improve detection of undiagnosed diabetes and improve 1-year results by being alert to symptoms of diabetes, by evaluating those at high risk for this disorder, and by instituting appropriate treatments at the time of diagnosis.

Implications

• Timely diagnosis of diabetes is likely to be beneficial for diabetes patients.
• The authors call for more efforts to diagnose diabetes early.