Validation of Risk Assessment Tool for Diabetes Mellitus Among Healthcare Professionals: A Hospital-Based Study

A bstract Background: Diabetes mellitus is a major health problem which is responsible for significant mortality and morbidity. So we aimed to identify high-risk population and diagnose diabetes or pre-diabetes among healthcare professionals (HCPs) in a tertiary care hospital. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was done among 170 nondiabetic subjects from healthcare staff (doctors, nurses, and technologists). They were divided into two groups, each containing 85 people. In one group, risk assessment was done according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA) risk score, and another group was assessed according to the Indian Diabetes Risk Score (IDRS). The Oral Glucose Tolerance Test and hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) testing were done in all subjects to find out the glycemic status. Results: According to the ADA risk scoring system 3.50% of people were at high risk, 43.52% were overweight, and 15.30% were found to be diabetic. In the IDRS group, 23.50% of people were at high risk, 37.60% were overweight, and 17.60% were diabetic. Among doctors, the highest number of diabetes (10.58%) cases were diagnosed ( P = 0.00). A significant positive correlation was found between age and body mass index (BMI) ( P = 0.02), HbA1C and BMI ( P = 0.00), and waist circumference and HbA1C ( P = 0.03). In predicting diabetes, the ADA risk score (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.79, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.68–0.90, P = 0.00) with a sensitivity of 82% and specificity of 75% was found to be better than IDRS (AUC: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.57–0.81, P = 0.00) with a sensitivity of 72.50% and specificity of 60.10% in the receiver operating curve(ROC) analysis. Conclusion: HCPs are at increasing risk of developing diabetes. The ADA risk scoring system is better than IDRS in predicting diabetes and pre-diabetes.