Finnish Diabetes Risk Score Is Associated with Impaired Insulin Secretion and Insulin Sensitivity, Drug-Treated Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease: A Follow-Up Study of the METSIM Cohort

We investigated the association of the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) with insulin secretion, insulin sensitivity, and risk of type 2 diabetes, drug-treated hypertension, cardiovascular (CVD) events and total mortality in a follow-up study of the Metabolic Syndrome in Men (METSIM) cohort. The METSIM study includes 10,197 Finnish men, aged 45–73 years, and examined in 2005–2010. Of 8,749 non-diabetic participants of the METSIM study 693 developed incident type 2 diabetes, 225 started antihypertensive medication, 351 had a CVD event, and 392 died during a 8.2-year follow-up. The FINDRISC was significantly associated with decreases in insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity (P<0.0001), and with a 4.14-fold increased risk of incident type 2 diabetes, 2.43-fold increased risk of drug-treated hypertension, 1.61-fold increased risk of CVD, and 1.55-increased risk of total mortality (the FINDRISC ≥12 vs. < 12 points). In conclusion, the FINDRISC predicts impairment in insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity, the conversion to type 2 diabetes, drug-treated hypertension, CVD events and total mortality.