The research, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, finds that both pediatric and family medicine providers who care for children are using screening tests for type 2 diabetes that may result in missed diagnoses for children, says lead author Joyce Lee, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor in U-M's Departments of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases and Environmental Health Sciences.

In 2010, the ADA recommended that physicians use Hemoglobin A1c screening tests, rather than glucose tests for identifying children and adults with pre-diabetes and diabetes. However, this change has been controversial, because of lower test performance of HbA1c in children compared with adults.