Diabetes screening. Does it make a difference in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population?

BACKGROUND

The prevalence of diabetes in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population is relatively high. A high proportion of cases are undiagnosed. Diabetes is one of a number of increasingly prevalent chronic diseases which have been described collectively as a noncommunicable disease epidemic.

OBJECTIVE

To review the existing literature relating to the actual or potential benefit of screening for diabetes in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population.

DISCUSSION

There is a strong case for screening for diabetes as part of an opportunistic or planned periodic health examination (PHE). As well as fasting venous plasma glucose, this integrated approach should include assessment of weight, blood pressure, presence of microalbuminuria and hyperlipidaemia. General practitioners need to be sensitive to cultural issues and power relationships, as well as considering 'structural' impediments to good health, such as affordability and availability of nutritious food, rather than focus solely on individual 'lifestyle' issues.