Type 2 Diabetes Risk Calculator
Stratifies diabetes risk based on patient age, gender, hypertension status or family history.
You can find information on the significance of the variables used, on the formula required for risk stratification and about the original study, in the text below the tool.
The type 2 diabetes risk calculator improves chances of early detection in the case of patients suffering from diabetes.
It is based on clinical data readily available about the patient: age, gender, hypertension status, corticosteroid therapy indications, family history and smoking status.
The calculator is based on the following two formulas:
Terms = 6.322 - Sex - Rx Hypertensive - Rx Steroids - (0.063 x Age) - BMI - Family history - Smoker
Risk = 100 / (1 + e(Terms))
For more details about each variable and its weight in the above equation check this section.
Jump to:
1. Type 2 diabetes risk calculator
3. Formula
5. Diabetes symptoms and diagnosis
6. References
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Steps on how to print your input & results:
1. Fill in the calculator/tool with your values and/or your answer choices and press Calculate.
2. Then you can click on the Print button to open a PDF in a separate window with the inputs and results. You can further save the PDF or print it.
Please note that once you have closed the PDF you need to click on the Calculate button before you try opening it again, otherwise the input and/or results may not appear in the pdf.
Variables considered
This diabetes risk stratification method contributes to early detection of patients at risk of diabetes or whom suffer from the condition already but are asymptomatic.
The variables used are exemplified in the following table:
Type 2 diabetes risk variable | Answer choices |
Age | To be input in years |
Gender | Male Female |
Prescription Hypertensive | Yes No |
Prescription Steroids | Yes No |
Body Mass Index | BMI <25 BMI between 25 and 27.49 BMI between 27.5 and 29.99 BMI ≥30 |
Family History | No 1st degree family members with diabetes Parent or sibling with diabetes Parent and sibling with diabetes |
Smoker | No Yes Former smoker |
As age is one of the main risk factors of type 2 diabetes, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends regular screening after the age of 45.
Risk of diabetes is higher in adult men but with age (after 65) the risk becomes similar in both genders.
Hypertensive patients (blood pressure >135/80 mmHg) carry a greater risk of death and morbidity (up to four times higher) from diabetes related cardiovascular events (including myocardial infarction, stroke, angina).
Corticosteroid therapy recommended to reduce inflammation in several conditions, may trigger diabetes in patients who are already at risk.
Body mass index is used as objective measure for the patient’s weight status. Obese patients carry higher risks.
Early diabetes diagnosis may reduce risk of further tissue damage or cardiovascular conditions.
One of the benefits of this tool relies in the fact that it uses routinely collected information to check whether patients are at risk of diabetes.
Formula
The type 2 diabetes risk calculator uses the following two formulas to generate the diabetes risk percentage:
Terms = 6.322 - Sex - Rx Hypertensive - Rx Steroids - (0.063 x Age) - BMI - Family history - Smoker
Risk = 100 / (1 + e(Terms))
Depending on the answers provided, the “terms” formula above is populated with different variables, as described in the table below:
Item | Answer | Value |
Gender | Female | -0.879 |
Male | 0 | |
Prescription Hypertensive | Yes | 1.222 |
No | 0 | |
Prescription Steroids | Yes | 2.191 |
No | 0 | |
Age | In years | x 0.063 |
Body mass index | BMI <25 | 0 |
BMI between 25 and 27.49 | 0.699 | |
BMI between 27.5 and 29.99 | 1.97 | |
BMI ≥30 | 2.518 | |
Family history | No 1st degree | 0 |
Parent or sibling | 0.728 | |
Parent and sibling | 0.753 | |
Smoker | No | 0 |
Yes | 0.855 | |
Former smoker | -0.218 |
About the study
This diabetes risk stratification tool was created by Griffin et al. in 2000, following a study on a population-based sample of 1077 people, aged 40 to 64 years, not known to be suffering of diabetes.
The subjects underwent clinical assessment including an oral glucose tolerance test.
The variables selected were tested in an independent, randomly selected, population-based sample with 72% specificity, 77% sensitivity and a likelihood ratio of 2.76.
The application of this risk stratification method was found to be efficient in early detection of diabetes patients through case-finding or targeted screening.
Diabetes symptoms and diagnosis
Diabetes mellitus is one of the conditions that can go unnoticed for months and years in a row because in some cases is asymptomatic or presents very few symptoms of mild severity.
Some of the diabetes symptoms are:
■ Hyperglycemia;
■ Being very thirsty (polydipsia);
■ Passing more urine (polyuria);
■ Unexplained weight loss;
■ Blurry vision;
■ Poorly healing wounds;
■ Tingling or numbness in hands or feet (paresthesias);
■ Fatigue;
■ Irritability.
Diagnosis includes blood tests that measure blood sugar under different conditions:
■ HbA1C, also known as the glycated hemoglobin test, offers information on blood glucose values over the past 2, 3 months;
■ Fasting plasma glucose is a test that measures blood sugar after eight hours of fast (not drinking or eating anything);
■ Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) is aimed at measuring blood glucose before and two hours after a sugary drink.
American Diabetes Association (ADA) has the following guidelines for diagnosis:
■ FPG (fasting plasma glucose) ≥126 mg/dL (7.0 mmol/L) OR;
■ Two-hour plasma glucose level of 200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L) or higher during OGTT OR;
■ Random plasma glucose of 200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L) in patient with classic symptoms of hyperglycemia or hyperglycemic crisis.
Original source
Griffin SJ, Little PS, Hales CN, Kinmonth AL, Wareham NJ. Diabetes risk score: towards earlier detection of type 2 diabetes in general practice. Diabetes Metab Res Rev. 2000; 16(3):164-71.
Other references
1. Fletcher B, Gulanick M, Lamendola C. Risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus. J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2002; 16(2):17-23.
2. Hypertension in Diabetes Study (HDS): II. Increased risk of cardiovascular complications in hypertensive type 2 diabetic patients. J Hypertens. 1993; 1(3):319-25.
Specialty: Endocrinology
System: Endocrine
Objective: Risk Stratification
Type: Calculator
No. Of Variables: 7
Year Of Study: 2000
Article By: Denise Nedea
Published On: April 12, 2017 · 07:17 AM
Last Checked: April 12, 2017
Next Review: April 12, 2023