Screening high-risk patients for type 2 diabetes does not reduce mortality, according to a Lancet study.

Some 30 U.K. general practices were randomized to screening plus intensive diabetes control, screening plus routine diabetes care, or no screening. Over 16,000 patients aged 40 to 69 were eligible for screening, as determined by a risk score based, in part, on BMI and antihypertensive drug use. Three percent were diagnosed with diabetes.

During roughly 10 years’ follow-up, the screening and control groups did not differ in terms of all-cause mortality, diabetes-related mortality, or cardiovascular mortality. Adjustment for intensive versus routine diabetes care did not alter these findings.

Pointing out the low prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes in this cohort, Lancet commentators suggest that screening might be more beneficial in countries where diabetes is more common. They conclude that screening recommendations are “likely to be country-specific and context-specific for the foreseeable future.”

Source: Lancet