The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued draft guidelines that recommend doctors in the UK should screen people of 25 and over for diabetes. It has stated that doctors should review their records to identify all their patients who are over 25 years of age and who are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes, especially those of South Asian descent, and carry out blood tests for the metabolic condition.
NICE say that if it is not possible to use the practice risk score, then a self-assessment questionnaire to be filled out by all non-pregnant adults in the practice over 25 years is the next best thing. However, such a move to identify those at risk of developing type 2 diabetes would entail a huge increase in the current diabetes screening programme.
It also suggests that doctors should use a validated risk assessment approach for assessing information in their practice records, so that patients over 75 and those aged between 25 and 39 that are from a South Asian background in particular should be encouraged to undergo such as a risk assessment.
The report argued that “GPs or other primary care health professionals should use a validated risk-assessment tool … to identify all adults aged 25 and over on their GP practice register who may be at high risk of type 2 diabetes.”
A NICE spokesperson also pointed out “The practice risk score uses routinely collected data that is included in all medical records. This is very little work – though it helps if records are up to date. If it shows that patients are at high risk, then they can invite them for a blood test.”

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