Indian Diabetes Risk Score
Four questions, made for Indian adults, that estimate whether you could have type 2 diabetes without knowing it. Everything is calculated on your device; nothing you type is sent or stored.
Answer the four questions.
| Age | |
| Waist | |
| Physical activity | |
| Parents with diabetes |
How is the score worked out?
| Question | Answer | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Age | Under 35 | 0 |
| 35 – 49 | 20 | |
| 50 or more | 30 | |
| Waist | Women under 80 cm, men under 90 cm | 0 |
| Women 80 – 89 cm, men 90 – 99 cm | 10 | |
| Women 90 cm or more, men 100 cm or more | 20 | |
| Physical activity | Vigorous: regular vigorous exercise or strenuous (manual) work at home or work | 0 |
| Moderate: regular moderate exercise or moderate activity at home or work | 10 | |
| Mild: regular mild exercise or mild activity at home or work | 20 | |
| None: no exercise, sedentary at home and work | 30 | |
| Parents with diabetes | Neither | 0 |
| One | 10 | |
| Both | 20 |
Total below 30: low risk. 30 to 50: moderate. 60 or more: high risk.
How good is it?
In the study that built it (2,350 adults in Chennai), a score of 60 or more found 72.5% of the people who had undiagnosed diabetes (sensitivity) and correctly cleared 60.1% of those who did not (specificity). Of the people scoring 60 or more, about 1 in 6 actually had diabetes; of those below 60, about 95 in 100 did not. It is a cheap first sieve that tells you who should have a blood test, not a test itself. Later studies in Mangalore and Lucknow found it worked in their populations too.
Want to check your BMI and waist-to-height ratio as well? Use the BMI & waist calculator.
Common questions
What is the Indian Diabetes Risk Score?
A four-question score made by the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (Mohan and colleagues, 2005) from the Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study. It adds points for age, waist, physical activity and diabetes in your parents, out of 100, to find adults who may have type 2 diabetes without knowing it.
What is a high IDRS score?
60 or more is high risk, 30 to 50 moderate and below 30 low. In the original study a score of 60 or more picked up about 7 in 10 people with undiagnosed diabetes.
Does a low score mean I do not have diabetes?
No. The score only estimates risk; it misses some people who do have diabetes. Only a blood test (fasting glucose, HbA1c or a glucose tolerance test) can tell. If you have symptoms such as thirst, passing a lot of urine or weight loss, get tested whatever your score.
Which parts of the score can I change?
Waist and physical activity: together up to 50 of the 100 points. Age and family history cannot change.
Sources3
- Mohan V, Deepa R, Deepa M, Somannavar S, Datta M. A simplified Indian Diabetes Risk Score for screening for undiagnosed diabetic subjects. J Assoc Physicians India 2005;53:759-63.
- Adhikari P, Pathak R, Kotian S. Validation of the MDRF-Indian Diabetes Risk Score (IDRS) in another south Indian population through the Boloor Diabetes Study. J Assoc Physicians India 2010;58:434-6.
- Khan MM, et al. Validity of Indian Diabetes Risk Score and its association with body mass index and glycosylated hemoglobin for screening of diabetes in and around areas of Lucknow. J Family Med Prim Care 2017;6:366-73.