Use of the Diabetes Risk Score for Opportunistic Screening of Undiagnosed Diabetes and Impaired Glucose Tolerance
The IGLOO (Impaired Glucose Tolerance and Long-Term Outcomes Observational) study
- Monica Franciosi, MSC BIOL,
- Giorgia De Berardis, MSC PHARM CHEM,
- Maria C.E. Rossi, MSC PHARM CHEM,
- Michele Sacco, MD,
- Maurizio Belfiglio, MD,
- Fabio Pellegrini, MSC STAT, MPH,
- Gianni Tognoni, MD,
- Miriam Valentini, MD,
- Antonio Nicolucci, MD and
- for the IGLOO Study Group*
- From the Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Epidemiology, Consorzio Mario Negri Sud, S. Maria Imbaro, Italy
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to Antonio Nicolucci, MD, Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Epidemiology, Consorzio Mario Negri Sud, Via Nazionale, 66030 S. Maria Imbaro (CH), Italy. E-mail: nicolucci{at}negrisud.it
Abstract
OBJECTIVE—To evaluate an opportunistic screening strategy addressed to individuals with one or more cardiovascular risk factor, based on the Diabetes Risk Score (DRS) as the initial instrument, for the identification of individuals with type 2 diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT).
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—The DRS, a simple self-administered questionnaire, was completed by individuals identified by general practitioners and presenting with one or more cardiovascular risk factor. All patients underwent a 2-h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The optimal DRS cutoff was calculated by applying the receiver-operating characteristic curve.
RESULTS—Overall, 1,377 individuals aged between 55 and 75 years received an OGTT and completed the DRS. Mean DRS values showed a marked variation according to glucose metabolism categories, as follows: 8.7 ± 3.0 in normoglycemic individuals, 9.5 ± 3.1 in individuals with impaired fasting glucose, 9.9 ± 3.3 in individuals with IGT, and 12.0 ± 3.5 in individuals with type 2 diabetes. The receiver-operating characteristic curve showed that, with a cutoff of 9, the sensitivity of DRS in detecting individuals with glucose abnormalities (type 2 diabetes or IGT) was 77% and the specificity 45%. The use of the DRS as an initial screening instrument, followed by the measurement of fasting blood glucose in individuals with a score ≥9 and by the OGTT in individuals with a fasting blood glucose between 5.6 and 6.9 mmol/l, would lead to the identification of 83% of the case subjects with type 2 diabetes and 57% of the case subjects with IGT, at a cost of an OGTT in 38% of the sample and a fasting blood glucose in 64%.
CONCLUSIONS—The DRS can represent a valid inexpensive instrument for opportunistic screening and a useful alternative to indiscriminate fasting blood glucose measurement, not readily available in general practice.
- AUC, area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve
- CV, cardiovascular
- DRS, Diabetes Risk Score
- FBG, fasting blood glucose
- IFG, impaired fasting glucose
- IGLOO study, Impaired Glucose Tolerance and Long-Term Outcomes Observational study
- IGT, impaired glucose tolerance
- OGTT, oral glucose tolerance test
Footnotes
- *
↵* A complete list of IGLOO Study Group members can be found in the appendix.
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Additional information for this article can be found in an online appendix at http://care.diabetesjournals.org.
A table elsewhere in this issue shows conventional and Système International (SI) units and conversion factors for many substances.
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- Accepted February 9, 2005.
- Received August 5, 2004.
- DIABETES CARE
