In Diabetes Today
09-JAN-2008
Blood Sugar Control Improved in U.S. Diabetics
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The percentage of U.S. adults with diabetes who have their blood sugar levels under control, as indicated by glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C) levels of less 7 percent, increased between 1999 and 2004, according to findings published in Diabetes Care.
Dr. Earl S. Ford, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues examined trends in blood sugar (glycemic) control among U.S. adults with diabetes using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
Overall, 1,334 subjects with diagnosed diabetes had an available measurement of A1C, a commonly used indicator of blood glucose concentrations.
The investigators found that the proportion of diabetics with average A1C values of less than 7 percent increased from 37.0 percent between 1999 and 2000, to 56.8 percent between 2003 and 2004.
Glycemic control was similar in men and women, but significantly better control was observed in white participants compared with African-American or Mexican-American participants.
"As welcome as the recent favorable trends in glycemic control are," Ford and colleagues conclude, "additional efforts are needed to help the approximately 40 percent of patients with diabetes who do not have adequate glycemic control."
SOURCE: Diabetes Care, January 2008.
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