Whitler Elmer T, Feltner Fran, Owens Judy, Gross David A
UK Center for Rural Health, London.
J Ky Med Assoc. 2005 Jul;103(7):307-14.
The University of Kentucky Center for Rural Health original research note, "Kentucky Homeplace Defeat Diabetes Screening Test: An Analysis of Rural Kentucky's Challenge to Overcome the Growing Diabetes Epidemic," provides the results of a yearlong diabetes risk survey that included more than 3,000 participants in rural Kentucky. It is well known that diabetes poses serious health threats across our country. For various reasons, that is especially true in Kentucky, with rural Kentucky having the highest prevalence for the disease. From September 2002 through August 2003, lay health workers with the nationally recognized Kentucky Homeplace program distributed and processed 3,092 diabetes self-test surveys to their clients across five regions of the state to get a better picture of the diabetes epidemic. The screening test was developed as an educational and public awareness tool by the Defeat Diabetes Foundation Inc, a nonprofit organization based in Madeira Beach, FL. It was distributed to various health agencies across the country. Each survey contained 16 questions, ranging from determining participants' urinary frequency and family medical history to their age and weight. Zero, five, or 10 points were allotted depending on respondents' degree of incidence for each question. A score of 0-15 points suggested a low risk for having diabetes, 20-25 points suggested that a respondent was at medium risk and should be tested for the disease, and a score of 30 points or higher suggested that he/she was at very high risk and "should seek (a) medical evaluation right away." Several months of analysis of the data collected indicated that 74.6% of the Kentucky Homeplace clients who participated in the survey were at moderate to significant risk of having or developing diabetes, a much higher rate than the approximately 50% of Kentucky adults in the general population that previous studies indicated were at risk. While findings from the survey of more than 3,000 Kentucky Homeplace clients cannot be generalized to Kentucky's population as a whole, they further confirm other evidence indicating that diabetes will continue to be one of the most serious health threats facing the state's rural populations. The research note further offered some recommendations for curbing rural Kentucky's diabetes epidemic, including increasing the number of certified diabetes educators serving rural Kentucky, expanding lay health worker programs within the rural portions of the Commonwealth, and studying the method and effectiveness of diabetes education between physicians and patients.
肯塔基大学农村健康中心的原创研究报告《肯塔基家庭场所战胜糖尿病筛查测试：肯塔基农村应对糖尿病流行挑战的分析》，给出了一项为期一年的糖尿病风险调查结果，该调查涵盖了肯塔基农村地区的3000多名参与者。众所周知，糖尿病在我国构成严重的健康威胁。由于各种原因，在肯塔基州尤其如此，肯塔基农村地区该病的患病率最高。从2002年9月到2003年8月，参与全国知名的肯塔基家庭场所项目的非专业健康工作者在该州五个地区向他们的客户分发并处理了3092份糖尿病自测调查问卷，以更好地了解糖尿病的流行情况。该筛查测试由佛罗里达州马德拉海滩的非营利组织“战胜糖尿病基金会”开发，作为一种教育和提高公众意识的工具。它被分发给全国各地的各种健康机构。每份调查问卷包含16个问题，从确定参与者的排尿频率和家族病史到他们的年龄和体重。根据受访者对每个问题的发病程度分配0分、5分或10分。0至15分表明患糖尿病的风险较低，20至25分表明受访者处于中等风险，应该接受该病的检测，30分及以上表明他/她处于非常高的风险，“应该立即寻求医疗评估”。对收集到的数据进行数月分析后表明，参与调查的肯塔基家庭场所客户中有74.6%处于患糖尿病或发展为糖尿病的中度至显著风险，这一比例远高于此前研究表明的肯塔基州普通成年人中约50%的风险比例。虽然对3000多名肯塔基家庭场所客户的调查结果不能推广到肯塔基州的全体人口，但它们进一步证实了其他证据，表明糖尿病将继续是该州农村人口面临的最严重健康威胁之一。该研究报告还就遏制肯塔基农村地区的糖尿病流行提出了一些建议，包括增加为肯塔基农村地区服务的认证糖尿病教育工作者的数量，在该州农村地区扩大非专业健康工作者项目，以及研究医生与患者之间糖尿病教育的方法和效果。
