(April) Screening for Diabetes in Dental Settings
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Screening for diabetes in dental settings
IRAS ID
122284
Contact name
Koula Asimakopoulou
Contact email
Research summary
Diabetes is a chronic illness characterised by elevated levels of blood glucose concentration, a condition known as hyperglycaemia. Diabetes is increasing in prevalence and the costs of diabetes to the patient and the NHS are high.
Diabetes onset can be delayed or prevented by lifestyle and pharmacological interventions. Given this observation, screening for diabetes has attracted a lot of attention.
Recently, general dental practice has been suggested as a useful location to screen for diabetes. One for the reasons for this, is the well documented relationship between oral health, e.g. periodontal (gum) disease and diabetes.
This study will use a self-report measure and a finger-prick test to screen for diabetes in primary dental care. It will also collect a drop of saliva from patients to assess the relationship between diabetes and oral health. Patients will be invited to take part through their dental practice. Those who agree to participate and who are found to be at risk will be communicated this information and asked to go for a diagnostic screening test, at their GP surgery. The psychosocial profile of those patients will be explored through standard psychological questionnaires. Follow-up contact will establish whether patients adhered to this recommendation. The extent to which psychological variables can predict diagnostic test uptake will be assessed. The relationship between oral health and diabetes will be explored. A small sample of dentists, and adherent / non-adherent patients will be interviewed at the end of the study to assess feasibility of screening for diabetes in dental settings (dentist interviews) and reasons for attendance or non-attendance (patient interviews)
REC name
West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/WM/0265
Date of REC Opinion
31 Jul 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion