Can we contribute to the diagnosis of diabetes and regulation of blood glucose by increasing the urologists' awareness of glucosuria?

Aims: Diabetes mellitus is a progressive, chronic, systemic, metabolic disease that must be managed effectively. Its prevalence is increasing rapidly. We investigated whether urologists' awareness and recognition of glucosuria contributed to the diagnosis of diabetes and regulation of blood glucose.

Methods: A total of 39,053 patients were retrospectively evaluated between January 2018 and February 2019. Of them, 16,211 had undergone urinalysis for varied reasons. Glucosuria was semi-quantitatively measured as (+), (++), (+++), and (++++). Patients were assessed in terms of whether they had been referred to endocrinology or internal medicine departments within the 15 days and the presence/absence of a previous or new diagnosis of diabetes mellitus by measuring blood glucose and HgbA1c levels.

Results: Glucosuria was detected in 665 patients (4.1%), of whom 495 were included in the study. 417 (84.2%) had been previously diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, and 56 (11.3%) newly received a diabetes mellitus diagnosis. Blood glucose and HbA1c values were normal in 22 (4.4%) patients with glucosuria. HgbA1c value was determined as 7 or above in 381 (91.3%) of 417 cases with a previous diabetes mellitus diagnosis.

Conclusion: Referring all patients detected to have glucosuria in the spot urine test at any time regardless of fasting/non-fasting to the relevant departments can contribute to the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes mellitus disease.