New screening process for type 2 diabetes

A new two-stage screening process that involves a straightforward clinical assessment, and then non-fasting blood markers to pinpoint any risk of the patient developing type 2 diabetes has been created by a team of diabetes researchers in London.
The researchers carried out a series of recordings, providing points for specific indicators including age, sex, body mass index (BMI), family history, smoking, hypertensio, waist circumference, as well as diagnosed coronary heart disease .
It was found that the highest-scoring total had a sensitivity and specificity of 50.3 per cent and 81.4 per cent respectively. When fasting blood markers high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglyceride and glucose were added, prediction was improved to a sensitivity of 63.8 per cent and a specificity of 82.0 per cent.
The scientists came up with the innovative process during a regressive study of 7,000 non-diabetic patients aged between 60 and 79 that were monitored over a seven-year period.
Goya Wannamethee, a professor of epidemiology at University College London who led the study, commented “Our approach represents an easy and possibly cost effective way of identifying older adults at high risk in clinical settings. We have transformed our models into a points score which could be used in general practice.”