(12) Factors Influencing Diabetes Risk Assessment; a Systematic Comparison of Two Diabetes Risk Assessment Tools

Publication Number: 686

Background: There is an increased burden of non-communicable diseases especially diabetes in recent years. One of the ways to tackle this burden is early detection and adequate management. There are different tools available to assess the risk of developing diabetes mellitus. However, there are certain differences among the tools with respect to factors considered to assess the risk of developing diabetes mellitus.

Objectives: To systematically compare the two diabetes risk assessment tools to explore the factors influencing diabetes risk assessment.

Methods: In this prospective study, the study population was exposed to diabetes risk assessment using two diabetes risk assessment tools provided by the American Diabetes Association and The Canadian Diabetes Risk Questionnaire. The study participants were identified as having low or high risk following the diabetes risk test provided by the American Diabetes Association. Whereas, having a high, moderate, or low risk of developing diabetes following The Canadian Diabetes Risk Questionnaire. In addition to common factors in both the tools, additional factors that influence the risk of diabetes mellitus in the study population were also explored. The observations are presented descriptively.

Results: A total of 206 individuals were screened for the risk of diabetes mellitus. A majority (147, 71%) were having low risk and 59 (29%) individuals were having a high risk for developing diabetes mellitus as per the American Diabetes Association diabetes risk test. In contrast, 136 (66%) individuals were having high risk, followed by 60 (29%) and 10 (5%) were having moderate and low risk of developing diabetes mellitus respectively as assessed by The Canadian Diabetes Risk Questionnaire. As per The Canadian Diabetes Risk Questionnaire, for individuals having high and moderate risk, certain modifiable risk factors were found to influence the risk of developing diabetes mellitus.

Conclusions: In addition to the factors assessed in common, diet habits, blood sugar levels, waist circumference, ethnicity and level of education plays a crucial role in identifying the individuals at risk of developing diabetes mellitus. This necessitates the focus on adequately controlling the modifiable risk factors in at-risk individuals.