Effect of screening for Type 2 diabetes on population-level self-rated health outcomes and measures of cardiovascular risk: 13-year follow-up of the Ely cohort
Diabetic Medicine, 06/29/2012
Rahman M et al. – Screening for diabetes is not associated with long–term harms at the population level. However, screening has limited long–term impact on those testing negative; benefits may largely be restricted to those whose diabetes is detected early through screening.
Methods- A parallel-group, cohort study of people aged 40-65 years, free of known diabetes, identified from the population register of a general practice in Ely, Cambridgeshire (n = 4936).
- In 1990-1992, one third (n = 1705), selected randomly, received an invitation for screening for diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors at 5-yearly intervals (screened population).
- From the remainder of the sampling frame, 1705 randomly selected individuals were invited to diabetes screening 10 years later (unscreened population).
- Patients without known diabetes from both populations were invited for a health assessment.
- Of 3390 eligible individuals without diabetes, 1442 (43%) attended for health assessment, with no significant difference in attendance between groups.
- Thirteen years after the commencement of screening, self-rated functional health status and health utility were identical between the screened and unscreened populations.
- Clinical measures, self-reported medication and cardiovascular morbidity were similar between the two groups.
