The use of the Finnish Diabetic Risk Score scheme (FINDRISC) for prediction of diabetes type-2 risk among various socio-demographic cohorts of the Pakistani population

Among Asian countries, Pakistan has one of the highest incidences of diabetes mellitus type-2. Unfortunately, in Pakistan often people present late at clinics, when the disease has advanced. Therefore, in this study we evaluated the feasibility of the FINDRISC questionnaire to detect asymptomatic diabetes in a cross-sectional setting among various socio-demographic cohorts, followed by random blood glucose measurement in identified high-risk scoring individuals, in order to detect diabetes.

Overall, 1000 male and female individuals, aged 20 to 65, with no history of diabetes, participated in the study. The original score ranges from 0–20, whereas two broad cut-off ranges of 7.56–14 (low risk) and ≥ 15 (high risk) stratified the study population into low- and high-risk groups.

The mean age of the study participants was 41 ± 1.4.The mean FINDRISC score was 8 ± 4.7, Female participants' scored significantly higher (8.5 ± 4.5) than males (6.3 ± 4.1) p  < 0.0001; housewives were found to be at elevated risk with a cumulative mean DRS of 11.7 ± 3.9. Overall, 9.2% of the women scored  ≥ 15 in comparison to 1.3% males, which underscores that the female population of Pakistan is at a much higher risk of developing type-2 diabetes in later years. Overall, 10.3% of the study participants scored in the high-risk group. Among occupational classes, students and those in sedentary jobs were found to be in the high-risk group.

We suggest the use of FINDRISC as a cost-effective tool for initial screening of high-risk individuals for diabetes type-2 in primary health care units of Pakistan.