New figures show that diabetes patients aged under 40 receive fewer vital checks and less often hit treatment targets than older age groups.
The National Diabetes Audit 2012- 2013presents findings for the care of over two-million people in England and Wales with diabetes. It found that out of approximately 130,000 patients under the age of 40, only 29.1% with Type 1 diabetes and 46.3% with Type 2 diabetes received eight of the nine NICE recommended care processes.
Annual checks assess the effectiveness of diabetes treatment, as well as cardiovascular risk factors such as blood pressure (BP), serum cholesterol, body mass index (BMI) and smoking and the emergence of early complications including eye screening, foot surveillance and kidney surveillance.
Commenting on the findings, Dr Bob Young, clinical lead for the audit, said: “This year’s report has shown that there is age inequality for the care and treatment received by patients with diabetes. Younger people are receiving substantially worse routine care and treatment than older patients and yet will live longer with their diabetes. They are therefore most at risk of developing complications that will affect their health and could lead to mortality.
“We recommend that commissioners, diabetes leads and GP and specialist providers of diabetes care review their results and consider improvements to their systems for delivering effective care to younger people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.”
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