Detailed Evaluation of Finnish Diabetes Risk Score Questionnaire in Diabetes, Hypertension, and Chronic Diseases

Objective: The Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) questionnaire, developed to determine the future risk of type 2 diabetes, is a simple, fast, inexpensive, non-invasive, and reliable tool. We aimed to evaluate the FINDRISC questionnaire in detail not only for diabetes but also for predicting hypertension or any chronic disease. Thus, we contributed to the national health system and literature.

Methods: The FINDRISC scale, comprising 8 questions, was administered to 347 individuals for adaptation to Turkish. The questionnaire was applied to 51 subjects twice at 15-day intervals to examine invariance over time. Reliability, validity, and sensitivity tests were analyzed, and positive/negative predictive values and likelihood ratios were calculated.

Results: In the reliability analysis of FINDRISC, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was found suitable for the whole scale (α=0.71). Evaluating the receiver operating characteristic curves revealed that the area under the curve with 95% CI was 0.896, 0.864-0.928 for diabetes; 0.855, 0.815-0.894 for any chronic disease; and 0.855, 0.810-0.890 for hypertension (P < .001 for all). In those with a total risk score ≥15.50, the sensitivity and specificity for diabetes were calculated as 92% and 71%, respectively. The corresponding sensitivity and specificity at a 13.5 cutoff risk score yielded 74% and 85%, respectively, for chronic disease and 87% and 67%, respectively, for hypertension.

Conclusion: Our study has shown that the FINDRISC scale can be used reliably in people in Turkey. We think this scale may also be beneficial in assessing the risk of hypertension or any chronic disease beyond determining the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Cite this article as: İdiz C, Karakaş PE, Çalıkoğlu BF, İşsever H, Satman İ. Detailed evaluation of FINDRISC questionnaire in diabetes, hypertension and chronic diseases. Endocrinol Res Pract. 2024;28(1):12-19.