Objective: To describe and evaluate a community-based diabetes screening program supported by the Michigan Department of Community Health.
Research design and methods: Between 1 June 1999 and 31 December 1999, community screening for diabetes was conducted by voluntary organizations using a standard protocol, American Diabetes Association (ADA) questionnaires, and ADA capillary plasma glucose criteria.
Results: A total of 3506 individuals were screened, 14% of whom did not meet criteria for screening. Of the 3031 individuals appropriately screened, 57% were classified as being at high risk based on the ADA questionnaire and 5% had positive screening tests based on ADA capillary plasma glucose criteria. Despite systematic follow-up, the screening program's yield of individuals with undiagnosed diabetes was <1%.
Conclusions: Community screening for diabetes conducted according to ADA recommendations was extremely inefficient at identifying individuals with undiagnosed diabetes. The ADA diabetes screening questionnaire resulted in many false positive tests, and the ADA criteria for positive plasma glucose tests likely missed a substantial portion of individuals with undiagnosed diabetes. Relying on biochemical tests such as random plasma glucose, changing the criteria for a positive plasma glucose test, targeting racial and ethnic minority groups, and targeting medically underserved individuals might improve the yield of community-based diabetes screening.