Diabetes in British nursing and residential homes: a pragmatic screening study.

In the U.K., 8–10% of those 65 years of age have diabetes (1), and more than a quarter of care-home residents may have the condition (2). Diabetes is often undiagnosed (2), and screening is recommended (3). However, the use of fasting glucose measurements alone has not been validated in the elderly population, and concerns have been expressed that results using this method are inconsistent in older people when compared with the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) (4). The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of diabetes and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) in a range of care-home types and to decide which tests were best for diagnostic screening: fasting capillary glucose, 2-h postprandial capillary glucose (PPG), or both.