Diabetes Testing Is Down

The percentage of poor, minority, inner-city diabetes patients 40 and older who received recommended testing annually declined from 2002 to 2007, a national healthcare survey found. The percentage of these patients who received annual foot, eye, and blood glucose exams fell from 39% to 23%; testing in middle-income patients fell from 41% to 33%. A stable 52% of high-income patients received the tests annually. In terms of race, blacks saw the largest decline in recommended testing over the same time period, falling from approximately 43% to 32%. Testing among Hispanics fell from 34% to 27%, while testing among whites dropped from 43% to 39%. Overall rates of testing for patients living in the inner city dropped from 45% to less than 33%. Patients ages 40 and older were significantly less likely to have the three tests performed if they had less than a high school diploma, compared with patients with some college education or greater. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.