Screening of Type 2 diabetes needs reviewing research suggests

The process for screening for Type 2 diabetes or those at high risk of the condition needs “careful re-evaluation”, according to the first study on the effectiveness of testing methods which has been led by the Diabetes Research Centre.

The team suggests that ‘multi-step’ programmes lead to more people responding to screening invitations and the number of those needing a final test for a definite diagnosis being reduced, irrespective of the invitation method, developmental status of the countries and/or whether the location of the programme is in an urban or rural setting.

The research, ‘Systematic review and meta-analysis of response rates and diagnostic yield of screening for type 2 diabetes and those at high risk of diabetes’, has been published in the PLOS ONE journal.

Lead researcher Professor Kamlesh Khunti (pictured), who is Professor of Primary Care Diabetes and Vascular Medicine at the University of Leicester and Co-Director of the Leicester Diabetes Centre, said: “The process of screening for Type 2 diabetes or those at high risk of diabetes needs careful re-evaluation by local policy makers in each country especially in view of our findings.”

The Leicester Diabetes Centre, a leading Centre in diabetes research and education, is led by Professor Kamlesh Khunti and Professor Melanie Davies from the University of Leicester and Leicester’s Hospitals. The Leicester Diabetes Centre is an alliance between the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (Leicester’s Hospitals), the University of Leicester, the local community and Primary Care and is located at Leicester General Hospital.