Detection of people at risk of suffering diabetes in Spanish community pharmacies

Objective: To detect people at high or very high risk of suffering diabetes and refer them to the physician; to evaluate the prevalence of the different risk factors in the study sample; and to target minimum educational intervention to such factors in all the participating pharmacy users.

Material and methods: A cross-sectional observational study was carried out in November 2014. Pharmacy users over 18 years of age, not diagnosed with diabetes and who agreed to participate in the survey were included in the study. Non-probabilistic sampling was made.

Primary endpoint: Findrisc questionnaire score. Others: demographic characteristics, body mass index, waist circumference, capillary blood glucose (if F≥15), medication, intervention, time taken.

Results: Ninety pharmacists from the 17 Spanish Autonomous Communities participated. A total of 1520 Findrisc questionnaires were administered. The mean sample score was 10.9 (SD=5.1). Of the 1520 surveyed individuals, 370 were at high or very high risk (24.3%). A total of 207 of these subjects (55.9% and 13.6% of the global sample) presented blood glucose ≥110 mg/dl and were referred to the physician. There is a direct association between the number of medicines used and diabetes risk. The duration of the intervention was 9.9 (SD=5.1) minutes.

Conclusions: The large percentage of participants with a high or very high risk of suffering diabetes who are referred to the general practitioner for evaluation warrants the efficiency of pharmacies in screening initiatives of this kind. The described educational intervention underscores the importance of a healthy lifestyle in preventing metabolic diseases.