A new study conducted by US researchers shows that poor diagnosis and ineffective treatment of diabetes may be putting millions of people worldwide at risk for early death. The diagnosis, treatment and management of diabetes in Colombia, England, Iran, Mexico, Scotland, Thailand and the United States was examined. Nearly 90 percent of adult diabetics have ineffective treatment of blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol in the United States. In Mexico, that percentage was 99 percent.
The Institute for Health metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle also found that diagnosis for diabetes was higher in women than in men. In the US, diagnosis and effective treatment was twice as likely for people with health insurance as for those without insurance. Diabetics were not receiving treatment for other cardiovascular risk factors that could be just as dangerous to their health as uncontrolled blood sugar.
According to the Center for Disease Control, one in five people under the age of 65 lacked health insurance in Georgia, while 41 percent of children 18 and under had public health insurance.
The data clearly shows that health insurance affects the diagnosis and control of high blood pressure and high cholesterol, as well as diabetes.
"Too many people are not being properly diagnosed with diabetes and related cardiovascular disease risk factors. Those who are diagnosed aren't being effectively treated. This is a huge missed opportunity to lower the burden of disease in both rich and poor countries," study co-author Dr. Stephen Lim, an associate professor of global health, said in an IHME news release.
The study appears in the March edition of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.
More information can be found at bio-medicine
Schober SE, Makuc DM, Zhang C, Kennedy-Stephenson J, Burt V. Health insurance affects diagnosis and control of hypercholesterolemia and hypertension among adults aged 20-64: United States, 2005-2008. NCHS data brief, no 57. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2011.
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