Are you following the American Diabetes Association’s recommended care?
A new analyst published by the journal, Diabetes Care stated that most adults are not receiving the care recommended by the American Diabetes Association. 4,069 Adults participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2005 and 2018. The participants were asked if they had met each of the five main ADA recommendations for diabetes care in the last year — having one or more visits with a primary doctor for diabetes, testing for A1C, an eye and foot examination and cholesterol testing.
In 2015, only 25.0% of participants reported meeting all five of the ADA’s recommendations. However, 34.1% in the 2017-2018 survey reported now meeting all 5 of the ADA’s recommendations. The results showed that older participants (ages 65+) were more likely to report receiving the recommended care for diabetes. There was a slight increase of reports from participants in the 40-64 age group receiving recommended care. However, there were not enough responses in the 20-39 age group to explain an increase in receiving recommended care. All three age groups reported high on receiving A1C testing (From 64.4% to 85.3%).
The study concluded that people who reported not receiving ADA-recommended care were more likely to be younger, have a lower income and wealth, lack health insurance, recently diagnosed with diabetes, not take any diabetes medication, and not have high cholesterol.
Of the people who received ADA-recommended care:
- 52% more likely to have an A1C level below 7.5%,
- 47% more than likely to have blood pressure below 140/90 mm Hg
- 47% more to have LDL (low-density lipoprotein, or “bad”) cholesterol below 100 mg/dl
- 79% more likely to take a cholesterol-lowering medication
Are you currently following the American Diabetes Association’s recommended care for diabetes? If you’re currently not following these guidelines, are you considering setting up appointments to get your A1C, eyes, feet and cholesterol checked? Let’s have a conversation and learn from each other.
To read the analyst in it’s entirety, click here: https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2021/04/16/dc20-2541
Until Next Time,
The Genetic Diabetic
