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Importance of finding alternate sites to screen for diabetes among at-risk US adults who live in low income areas: Feasible at dental visits?
Methods: Adults at risk for diabetes (n=206) who obtained dental care at a large urban Dental College participated in a feasibility study concerning diabetes screening at dental visits. To examine the importance and feasibility of this screening for persons from low income areas, participants were grouped and compared according to median annual household income of their home zip code (< $40,000, $40,000 - $60,000, > $60,000).
Results: Participants in the lowest income group were younger than those in higher income groups (p<.005). Although positive diabetes screens generally increase with age, there were no significant group differences in screening results (p=.491), with 41.2% in the lowest income group having positive screens for pre-diabetes/diabetes. Persons in this group were more likely than those in higher income groups to have diabetes risk factors: e.g., high body mass index (p=.002), a parent/sibling with diabetes (p=.048), or be African American or Latino (p<.005). Despite this, they were less likely to have had a past blood glucose test (56.7% vs. 72.1%; p=.029). Notably, 51.1% of participants in the lowest income group obtained dental care regularly, and of these persons, 80% endorsed the dental visit as a good diabetes screening site.
Conclusions: Many who live in low income areas and are at risk for diabetes receive regular dental care but do not receive diabetes screening in medical settings. Dental visits may be an alternate diabetes screening site for these persons.
Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health educationChronic disease management and prevention
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Provision of health care to the public
Learning Objectives:
List 3 ways in which persons at risk for diabetes differ according to whether they live in communities with low or high annual household incomes.
Describe why the dental visit may be an alternate site of opportunity for diabetes screening for at-risk U.S. adults who live in low income communities.
Keyword(s): Diabetes, Health Promotion and Education
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Principal Investigator of a grant from the National Institutes of Health that is examining the acceptability and feasibility of screening for diabetes at dental visits. I have explored and led the data analysis in this area of research for several research projects and scientific papers over the last 6 years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.