BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Earlier diabetes mellitus (DM) was the disease thought to be the disease of elderly but at present there has been a trend towards shift in the mean age of onset of type 2 diabetes to a much younger age. This rise in prevalence has been attributed to changes towards a western lifestyle, obesity and family history. The Indian diabetic risk score (IDRS) is simple and easily applicable for screening of DM. This study was undertaken to evaluate the risk of DM among medical students likely versus not likely to develop Type 2 DM. METHODOLOGY: The present one year cross-sectional study was carried out in the Department of Medicine of a tertiary care centre situated in South India from January 2014 to December 2014 on 200 medical students aged >18 years. Assessment of diabetes risk was based on IDRS a simple questionnaire consisting of four simple parameters i.e. age, obesity status, exercise status, and family history of type 2 DM. RESULTS:The fasting blood sugars level were found to be between 100 to 125mg/dL in 24.5% of the students and 16.5% of the students had HbA1c between 5.5 to 6.4 while one student had HbA1c >6.5 suggesting diabetes mellitus. The risk of developing DM was low in 82.5%, moderate in 16.5% and high risk in 1% of the students. There was positive association between diabetes risk based on IDRS score and FBS, HbA1c and body mass index. Among the 35 students with moderate and high risk of DM, 31.43% had raised LDL, 68.57% had abnormal HDL while triglycerides and total cholesterol were raised in 11.43% and 8.57% respectively. CONCLUSION: Individuals above 18 years should be screened for the presence of risk factors including physical activity, obesity and family history of diabetes mellitus using IDRS which will not only help to predict the risk of developing DM but also helps in prevention.

No abstract