External validation of Indian diabetes risk score in a rural community of central India

Aim: To find whether the individuals of 45 years and more of rural area who are in higher tertile of Indian Diabetes Risk Score i.e. of IDRS of >60 as compared to those who are in lower tertile i.e. of <30, have high frequency of hyperglycemia, impaired glucose tolerance, and manifest diabetes mellitus. Methods: A cross-sectional community based study. The study was conducted in three pre-identified villages. For all consenting and the eligible subjects, the medical student visited their house and the fasting capillary blood glucose was done by One touch blood glucose monitoring system. Four simple questions and one anthropometric measurement for waist circumference helped in deriving the information for Indian Diabetes Risk Score from the same subject. Results: The Indian Diabetes Risk Score (IDRS) (consisting of the factors like age, abdominal obesity, physical inactivity and the family history) which predicted diabetes mellitus in the subject, its sensitivity was 97.50% and specificity of 87.89% when the score of >/+ 60 was externally validated on our rural population. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that the Indian Diabetes Risk Score (IDRS) can be reliably applied as effective tool for the mass screening of diabetes in the community.