Why is the uptake of type 2 diabetes screening so low?

Type 2 diabetes is often associated with being undiagnosed for long periods, having serious complications, and a high economic burden. These factors all provide a strong argument for preventive screening.

Our study shows that the uptake of type 2 diabetes screening is only 32.7% in U.S. adults, which suggests that the concept of diabetes screening has not yet become the norm.

However, our study shows that the uptake of type 2 diabetes screening is only 32.7% in U.S. adults, which suggests that the concept of diabetes screening has not yet become the norm.

While so much research has been conducted to help identify the groups of the population who are most at a risk of developing type 2 diabetes, policy makers are also interested to know who are the members of the population that are less likely to utilize type 2 diabetes screening.

现有的研究发现，糖尿病预防性筛查与社会人口统计学和社会经济因素的关联，但对于2型糖尿病筛查的使用如何与行为因素，心理健康和慢性疾病有关。发现其中一个或一些因素与其他疾病筛查有关，例如发表在Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention.

What we found

We examined the influence of health behaviors, mental health, age, gender and chronic disease on the uptake of type 2 diabetes screening. We found that health behaviors such as obesity, physical activity, alcohol use, and smoking were associated with a higher probability of screening uptake. Our results also demonstrated that obesity has a stronger impact on the uptake of type 2 diabetes screening for females and younger people than for males and older people.

We also found that serious psychological distress increased the likelihood of utilizing type 2 diabetes screening in men, but decreased uptake on screening in women.

Chronic diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes, were positively related with the use of type 2 diabetes screening in our study, and this relation was stronger for males than for females and stronger for young people than for older people.

To increase the uptake of people utilizing type 2 diabetes prevention programs, these screening programs should be designed to consider health behaviors, mental health, age, gender and chronic disease to better target people who may be less likely to take part in type 2 diabetes screening.