Screening for Type 2 Diabetes > Direct Evidence that Screening Reduces Adverse Outcomes Author: Lorraine Lipscombe, MD, FRCPC; Denice S. Feig, MD, MSc, FRCPC
Editorial changes - 2009-05-01
Author information and module status
Key Points
Population at Risk
Effectiveness/Harms of Screening Tests
Effectiveness/Harms of Early Treatment
Direct Evidence that Screening Reduces Adverse Outcomes
Timeline
Cost-Effectiveness
Patient Education
Referral/Consultation
Guidelines
Tables
References
Glossary
What's New
Patient Information
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Tools
Recommendation
Know that there is insufficient evidence that screening for diabetes in persons at low risk for CVD reduces adverse outcomes.B

Evidence:

  • The benefits of screening for type 2 diabetes on CVD events depend largely on baseline CVD risk, and the benefits may be greatest in patients with a baseline 10-year CVD risk of >8% (41).
  • There is insufficient evidence that interventions such as tight glycemic control aimed at reducing non-CVD events such as microvascular disease provide benefit when initiated at an asymptomatic screening stage (77; 78; 79; 80; 81; 82; 83; 84; 85; 86; 87) (see information on glycemic control).
  • If 90% of screened patients with diabetes received tight glycemic control for 5 years, the estimated number needed to screen to prevent one case of blindness would be 4300 (74).

Comments:

  • None.

FAQs
Denice S. Feig, MD, MSc, FRCPC has no financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, or health-care related organizations. Lorraine Lipscombe, MD, FRCPC has no financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, or health-care related organizations. Sonal Singh, MD, editorial consultant, has no financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, or health-care related organizations.
Steven E. Weinberger, MD, FACP, Acting Editor, PIER, has stock holdings in Glaxosmithkline and Abbott.

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