Validation of the Finnish diabetes risk score (FINDRISC) questionnaire for screening for undiagnosed type 2 diabetes, dysglycaemia and the metabolic syndrome in Greece

Abstract

Aim The present study aimed to validate the Finnish Type 2 Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) questionnaire for its ability to predict the presence of any glucose homoeostasis abnormalities and the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in the Greek population. Methods Validation was performed on a sample of individuals who had agreed to participate in a screening program for type 2 diabetes (T2D) prevention (the Greek part of the DE–PLAN study), using both FINDRISC and oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT). Impaired fasting glucose (IFG) was defined as a fasting plasma glucose level of 6.1–6.9 mmol/L, and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) as a 2-h plasma glucose of 7.8–11.0 mmol/L. The predictive value of the FINDRISC was cross-sectionally evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve method. Results A total of 869 individuals (379 men, aged 56.2 ± 10.8 years) were screened from the general population living in the city and suburbs of Athens. OGTT revealed the presence of unknown diabetes in 94 cases (10.8%), IFG in 85 (9.8%) and IGT in 109 (12.6%). The sensitivity of a FINDRISC score greater or equal to 15 (45% of the population) to predict unknown diabetes was 81.9% and its specificity was 59.7%. The AUROC curve for detecting unknown diabetes was 0.724 (95% CI: 0.677–0.770). For any dysglycaemia, the AUROC curve was 0.716 (0.680–0.752) while, for detection of the MetS, it was 0.733 (0.699–0.767). Conclusion The FINDRISC questionnaire performed well as a screening tool for the cross-sectional detection of unknown diabetes, IFG, IGT and the MetS in the Greek population.