Knowledge of diabetes and its risk factors is improving, a new survey suggests, but significant gaps in understanding persist.
Dr. Judith Fradkin, who leads the diabetes program at the National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), presented results of a national survey conducted for the National Diabetes Education Program that she says may help improve patient education. Examples:
- 63% of those surveyed who do not have diabetes but believe they are at risk for it list family history as the reason for their concern. Among African Americans, 83% cited family history as their biggest risk, and among Hispanics, 70% cited family history.
- Only 22% of those surveyed cited their own overweight or obesity as a risk factor for diabetes, but 68% said weight is the greatest risk in other people.
- Less appreciated risks included age (23%); race or ethnicity (16%) and too much salt in the diet (14%)
- Asked to name the most serious health problem caused by diabetes, 54% said blindness, 34% said cardiovascular disease. (Yet heart disease and stroke are the leading cause of death in people with diabetes.)
- Among the 19% of respondents who said they have diabetes, only 2/3 had an A1C test in the last year and of those, fewer than half knew what it was.
- Some messages are getting across - 80% of people said losing weight will improve blood glucose. But only about half of those surveyed had ever heard of prediabetes.
The survey results will help guide future communication about diabetes, Dr. Fradkin said. "Based on this information, we are changing NDEP risk messages, for instances, to emphasize family history - to reach people with issues they recognize."
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