Diabetes mellitus screening in pediatric primary care.

OBJECTIVE: The goal was to determine the rates of diabetes screening and the prevalence of screening abnormalities in overweight and nonoverweight individuals in an urban primary care clinic.
METHODS: This study was a retrospective chart review conducted in a hospital-based urban primary care setting. Deidentified data for patients who were 10 to 19 years of age and had > or = 1 BMI measurement between September 1, 2002, and September 1, 2004, were extracted from the hospital electronic health record.
RESULTS: A total of 7710 patients met the study criteria. Patients were 73.0% black or Hispanic and 47.0% female; 42.0% of children exceeded normal weight, with 18.2% at risk for overweight and 23.8% overweight. On the basis of BMI, family history, and race, 8.7% of patients met American Diabetes Association criteria for type 2 diabetes mellitus screening, and 2452 screening tests were performed for 1642 patients. Female gender, older age group, and family history of diabetes were associated with screening. Increasing BMI percentile was associated with screening, exhibiting a dose-response relationship. Screening rates were significantly higher (45.4% vs 19.0%) for patients who met the American Diabetes Association criteria; however, less than one half of adolescents who should have been screened were screened. Abnormal glucose metabolism was seen for 9.2% of patients screened.
CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that, although pediatricians are screening for diabetes mellitus, screening is not being conducted according to the American Diabetes Association consensus statement. Point-of-care delivery of consensus recommendations could increase provider awareness of current recommendations, possibly improving rates of systematic screening and subsequent identification of children with laboratory evidence of abnormal glucose metabolism.