Performance of the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) and Modified Asian FINDRISC (ModAsian FINDRISC) for screening of undiagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus and dysglycaemia in primary care

Prim Care Diabetes. 2020 Oct;14(5):494-500. doi: 10.1016/j.pcd.2020.02.008. Epub 2020 Mar 7.

Abstract

Aims: To evaluate the performance of FINDRISC and ModAsian FINDRISC for the screening of undiagnosed diabetes and dysglycaemia in primary care. To compare the performance of FINDRISC with the recommendations of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) guidelines.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 293 patients without a prior history of diabetes at a primary care clinic in Malaysia. Questions on body mass index and waist circumference were modified based on the Asian standard in ModAsian FINDRISC. Haemoglobin A1c of ≥6.5% (48 mmol/mol) was used to diagnose diabetes. Areas under the receiver operating curve (ROC-AUC) for FINDRISC and ModAsian FINDRISC were analyzed.

Results: The prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes was 7.5% and prediabetes was 32.8%. The ROC-AUC of FINDRISC was 0.76 (undiagnosed diabetes) and 0.79 (dysglycaemia). There was no statistical difference between FINDRISC and ModAsian FINDRISC. The recommended optimal FINDRISC cut-off point for undiagnosed diabetes was ≥11 (Sensitivity 86.4%, Specificity 48.7%). FINDRISC ≥11 point has higher sensitivity compared to USPSTF criteria (72.7%) and higher specificity compared to the ADA (9.6%).

Conclusions: FINDRISC is a useful diabetes screening tool to identify those at risk of diabetes in primary care in Malaysia.

Keywords: Diabetes risk score; Diabetes screening; Dysglycaemia; HbA1c; Undiagnosed diabetes.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Anthropometry*
  • Biomarkers / blood
  • Blood Glucose / metabolism*
  • Body Mass Index
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / blood
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / diagnosis*
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / epidemiology
  • Diagnostic Screening Programs*
  • Female
  • Glycated Hemoglobin / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Malaysia / epidemiology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Prevalence
  • Primary Health Care
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Factors
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*
  • Waist Circumference
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Blood Glucose
  • Glycated Hemoglobin A
  • hemoglobin A1c protein, human