An Assessment of the 10-Year Risk of Developing Type 2 Diabetes Among Saudi Adults Based on the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score

Background and objectiveDiabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic, metabolic disease characterized by elevated blood glucose levels that eventually lead to several acute and chronic complications. Type 2 DM (T2DM) is a major healthcare problem globally as well as in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Predicting and identifying people at high risk for developing T2DM will help implement preventive measures for these individuals. In light of this, the present study was designed to estimate the 10-year risk of developing T2DM among the Saudi general population.MethodologyA descriptive, cross-sectional survey involving 15,509 Saudi individuals was undertaken. The participants were selected from all 13 provinces of KSA based on stratified random sampling. The Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC), a validated tool for T2DM risk assessment, was employed. Descriptive and chi-square analyses were used.ResultsThe mean age of the participants was 28.33 years. Subjects with a moderate, high, and very high risk of developing T2DM within the next 10 years comprised approximately 18% of the sample. The mean FINDRISC was 7.53 [standard deviation (SD): 4.28], which is considered a level associated with a slightly elevated risk of developing T2DM. Of note, 938 participants (6.05%) among the sample population had a high risk of developing T2DM as predicted by FINDRISC. Education, daily physical activity, high blood glucose, and family history of DM were significantly higher in females compared to males (p