Diabetes screenings could cut health costs

NEW ORLEANS, June 10 (UPI) -- Screening adults for diabetes could result in significant cost savings for healthcare systems, U.S. researchers said.

Dr. Lawrence S. Phillips of Emory University School of Medicine Professor of Medicine in Atlanta said his research team screened 1,259 adults who had never been diagnosed with diabetes.

"The economic costs of diabetes threaten the financial integrity of our healthcare systems," Phillips, co-author of the study, said in a statement.

The volunteer participants underwent four screening tests, including random plasma and capillary glucose, and a 50 gram oral glucose challenge test with plasma and capillary glucose measured one hour after the glucose drink.

All participants also had a definitive 75 gram oral glucose tolerance test performed in the morning after an overnight fast.

The researchers found that 24 percent of the adults screened had either diabetes or prediabetes.

The researchers said the cost of screening and three years of treatment with metformin or change in lifestyle for individuals found to have prediabetes or previously unrecognized diabetes would be lower than costs associated with not screening.

The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association in New Orleans.