Remote Indigenous Communities Benefit From On-The-Spot Diabetes Tests
On-the-spot diabetes tests look set to markedly improve the way diabetes is monitored in remote Indigenous communities throughout Australia.
Research co-authored by Dr David Martin and colleagues at the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth, Flinders University, Adelaide, and Western Australian Country Health Services, Broome, in the current issue of the Medical Journal of Australia shows point-of-care (POC) diabetes screening - including blood glucose and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) tests - can be a useful ally in clinical management.
This study, part of the Unity of the First People of Australia (UFPA) Diabetes Prevention and Management Program, looked at 152 residents in a remote Western Australian Indigenous community and found the HbA1c test offered an accurate and practical way of monitoring diabetes.
When compared to laboratory tests, the HbA1c test using the Bayer DCA 2000+ analyser gave statistically, analytically and clinically similar results.
Results of POC testing of glucose levels were reasonably correlated with laboratory results, but researchers cautioned that laboratory confirmation was necessary if the results were likely to affect clinical decisions.
POC monitoring of diabetes would be a significant advantage for Indigenous communities, as the nearest laboratories are often thousands of kilometres distant.
Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a major cause of premature mortality in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Reported prevalence rates in the past decade have ranged between 10 per cent and 30 per cent.
The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.
CONTACT: Dr David MARTIN 0011 49 7071 2983 795 (w) (Germany) 0011 49 7071 2133 9 (ah)
david.martin@med.uni-tuebingen.de
Judith TOKLEY, AMA Public Affairs, 0408 824 306 / 02 6270 5471