Quality Improvement Project to Assist in Implementation of Prediabetes Screen Protocol

Prediabetes is a reversible condition that causes blood glucose levels to be higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. When one has prediabetes, the cells in the body do not respond normally to insulin, and insulin acts like a key to letting blood sugar into cells to use energy. The pancreas produces insulin to try to get the cells to respond, but eventually, the pancreas has a challenging time keeping up, and the blood sugar level rises causing prediabetes (Lehrman, 2021). A person can have prediabetes for years with no obvious symptoms, so it goes undetected until serious health problems occur such as type 2 diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC, 2022), approximately 96 million American adults, more than one in three, have prediabetes, and of those with prediabetes, more than 80% do not know they have it.This DNP project focus was to determine the effectiveness of implementing a screening protocol for all patients aged 18-70 who are at risk for prediabetes. The outcomes of this screening protocol implementation were processed at a health facility in Meridian, Mississippi. A retrospective approach was done to collect data from three months prior on patients aged 18-70 who were seen for wellness visits and diagnosed with prediabetes. Once interventions were reviewed, a prediabetes risk test was introduced to the provider to use for future wellness visits patients. Also, screening tools were examined with the provider. For example, fasting plasma glucose, oral glucose tolerance test, and HgA1c.