HEALTH DISPARITIES BLOG

February 26, 2010

links for 2010-02-26

• Analysis Shows Minorities Less Likely to Receive “Cornerstone” Diabetes Test : Analysis Shows Minorities Less Likely to Receive “Cornerstone” Diabetes Test | Neumiller, J, Sclar, D et al. Diabetes Educator 2020-02
  Ethnic and racial minorities bear a disproportionate share of America’s diabetes epidemic but are significantly less likely than whites to receive a commonly used test to monitor control of blood glucose....[B]lack and Hispanic patients diagnosed with diabetes are 2 to 3 times less likely than white patients to receive the A1C test during physician office visits. [Washington State University] researchers note that diabetes has become a global epidemic projected to affect 48 million Americans by 2050. Hispanics and blacks are more than twice as likely to develop diabetes and suffer the consequences of insufficient monitoring, say the WSU researchers. 'Earlier this year, the American Diabetes Association announced guidelines encouraging use of the A1C test in both the monitoring and diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease.' (Link courtesy of Michael Massing)
• Where Does the County You Live In Rank in Terms of Health? - RWJ
  The County Health Rankings—the first set of reports to rank the overall health of every county in all 50 states—were released today by the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at a briefing in Washington, D.C. and on www.countyhealthrankings.org. The 50 state reports help public health and community leaders, policy-makers, consumers and others to see how healthy their county is, compare it with others within their state and find ways to improve the health of their community.