title: Pharmacy diabetes care program: analysis of two screening methods for undiagnosed type 2 diabetes in Australian community pharmacy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of two methods of screening for undiagnosed type 2 diabetes in Australian community pharmacy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A random sample of 30 pharmacies were allocated into two groups: (i) tick test only (TTO); or (ii) sequential screening (SS) method. Both methods used the same initial risk assessment for type 2 diabetes. Subjects with one or more risk factors in the TTO group were offered a referral to their general practitioner (GP). Under the SS method, patients with risk factors were offered a capillary blood glucose test and those identified as being at risk referred to a GP. The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of these approaches was assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1286 people were screened over a period of 3 months. The rate of diagnosis of diabetes was significantly higher for SS compared with the TTO method (1.7% versus 0.2%; p=0.008). The SS method resulted in fewer referrals to the GP and a higher uptake of referrals than the TTO method and so was the more cost-effective screening method.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SS is the superior method from a cost and efficacy perspective. It should be considered as the preferred option for screening by community based pharmacists in Australia.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy, Sydney University, NSW 2006, Australia. inesk@pharm.usyd.edu.au
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Krass
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brillant
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dienaar
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Armour
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010594:Pharmacies / Q000592:standards; D012016:Reference Values; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose