The potential use of gingival crevicular blood for measuring glucose to screen for diabetes: an examination based on characteristics of the blood collection site.

BACKGROUND: This study examined conditions under which gingival crevicular blood (GCB) could be used to obtain a useful glucose reading to screen for undiagnosed diabetes during routine dental visits. METHODS: GCB and capillary finger-stick blood (CFB) glucose readings obtained with a glucometer were compared for 46 patients recruited from an urban university dental clinic. Study participants were divided into two groups based on probing depth or bleeding on probing (BOP) at the site of collection of the GCB sample. Group 1 participants had blood collected from sites with adequate BOP to obtain a sample without touching the tooth or gingival margin, whereas group 2 participants had blood collected from sites with little or no bleeding. For each group, Pearson correlations were calculated for glucose readings obtained using GCB and CFB samples, and the limits of agreement between the two samples were examined. RESULTS: For group 1 participants, correlations between CFB and GCB glucose readings were high (0.89), and the limits of agreement were acceptable (-27.1 to 29.7). By contrast, for participants in group 2, correlations between the glucose readings were lower (0.78), and limits of agreement were much broader (-25.1 to 80.5). CONCLUSION: GCB samples were suitable to screen for diabetes in persons with sufficient BOP to obtain a sample without touching the tooth or gingival margin (i.e., in patients having the basic clinical signs of gingivitis or periodontal disease).

Beliefs of women's risk as research subjects: a four-city study examining differences by sex and by race/ethnicity.

BACKGROUND: Given the history of vulnerability of women of childbearing age to medical treatments that have caused injury, for example, diethylstilbestrol (DES) and thalidomide, it is surprising that, to date, little research has directly examined attitudes of the general public regarding the vulnerability of women when they participate in biomedical research studies. METHODS: We asked three questions about beliefs of women as biomedical research subjects of 623 white, 353 black, and 157 Hispanic people in four U.S. cities: (1) Do you believe that women are more likely to be "taken advantage of" when they become subjects in a medical research project as compared to men? (2) Do you believe that women of childbearing age (15-45-year-olds) should become study participants in medical research projects? and, if the response was no or don't know/not sure, (3) Would you still say no or don't know/not sure to question 2 even if it meant that we would not know anything about the health and medical treatments for women aged 15-45 years? RESULTS: Overall, women were 60% more likely than men to state that women were more likely than men to be "taken advantage of," even when controlling for potential confounders, and both black and Hispanic participants were much more likely than white participants to state that this was the case. The majority of respondents (57.4%) said that women of childbearing age should not be research subjects; among women, both black and Hispanic people were less likely than white people to change their minds when prompted that this might mean that "nothing would be known about the health and medical treatments for women aged 15-45 years." CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of the participants reported knowledge of historical events, and this knowledge was related, particularly in black participants, to attitudes toward vulnerability of women as biomedical research subjects.