The Hindu Business Line : Diabetes risk score devised for Indians

PROVIDING a window of opportunity to a sizeable number of Indians prone to diabetes to reduce the risk levels considerably, Dr Mohan's M.V. Diabetes Specialities Centre has developed a simplified Indian Diabetes Risk Score (IDRS) for screening the undiagnosed diabetic population with cost savings of up to 50 per cent.

Addressing newspersons here on Tuesday, the Chairman of the centre, Prof V. Mohan, said the risk score was derived from the Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study (CURES), an ongoing epidemiological study on a representative population of Chennai.

He said the existing diabetes risk scores are not suitable for Indians because of specific Indian phenotype. "We have 32 million Indians with diabetes and have the largest diabetic pool in the world. The problem is further compounded by the fact that 66 per cent of Indian diabetics are not diagnosed as compared to 50 per cent in Europe and 33 per cent in US. Therefore, a diabetes risk score will help us to device effective screening strategies to unmask hidden burden of the disease."

Stating that there is an urgent need for mass screening programmes, Prof Mohan, however, said it is difficult and highly expensive to screen everyone and hence a selective screening is necessary to make it cost-effective. The CURES has developed a risk score with two modifiable risk factors - waist circumference and physical inactivity - and two non-modifiable risk factors - age and family history of diabetes.

According to Prof Mohan, the IDRS has a sensitivity of 72.5 per cent and specificity of 60.1per cent and is derived based on the largest population-based study. The advantages of IDRS are its simplicity, low cost and mass screening means.

"It provides a clear message that if modifiable risk factors are altered, the risk score can be considerably reduced. Persons with high IDRS regardless of their blood sugar status are ideal candidates for life style modification since these are risk factors for not only diabetes but also for cardiovascular disease," he said.

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