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Identifying people at risk for undiagnosed type 2 diabetes using the GP's electronic medical record
Erwin P Klein Woolthuis1, Wim J C de Grauw, Willem Hem van Gerwen
1Department of General Practice, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. e.kleinwoolthuis@hag.umcn.nl
Background:
Screening for type 2 diabetes is recommended in at-risk patients. The GP's electronic medical record (EMR) might be an attractive tool for identifying them.
Objective:
To assess the value of the GP's EMR in identifying patients at risk for undiagnosed type 2 diabetes and the feasibility to use this information in usual care to initiate screening.
Methods:
In 11 Dutch general practices (25 GPs), we performed an EMR-derived risk assessment in all patients aged > or =45 and < or =75 years, without known diabetes, identifying those at risk according to the American Diabetes Association recommendations. Patients with an EMR-derived risk or risk after additional risk assessment during regular consultation were invited for capillary fasting plasma glucose (FPG) measurement.
Results:
Of 13 581 patients, 3858 (28%) had an EMR-based risk (hypertension, cardiovascular disease, lipid metabolism disorders and/or obesity). Additional risk assessment in those without an EMR-based risk showed that in 51%, greater than one risk factor was present, mainly family history (51.2%) and obesity (59%). Ninety per cent returned for the FPG measurement. In both groups, we found patients with an FPG exceeding the cut point for diabetes (5.9% versus 4.1%).
Conclusions:
With additional risk assessment during consultation, the GP's EMR was valuable in identifying patients at risk for undiagnosed type 2 diabetes. It was feasible to use this information to initiate screening. At-risk patients were willing to take part in screening. Better registration of family history and obesity will improve the EMR as a tool for identifying at-risk patients in opportunistic screening in general practice.
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