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GPs diagnosed type 2 diabetes in 6 per cent of people who completed Diabetes UK’s online assessment, the charity recently announced after surveying 1,000 users.

Based on details such as age, ethnicity and weight, the site calculates the person’s likelihood of type 2 diabetes and advises people at high-risk to see their GP. Diabetes UK now urges people to assess their risk online, or in a pharmacy or GP surgery, if they:

• Are more than 40 years of age (over 25 years of age if they are from a South Asian, African Caribbean or Chinese background)
• Have a close relative with diabetes
• Are overweight
• Have a large waist.

Diabetes UK stresses that the site also benefits people at intermediate or low risk of type 2 diabetes. “Some of those identified as being at high risk would have had the opportunity to reduce their risk by being signposted to advice about making healthy changes,” a spokesperson told Pharmacy Magazine.

“Others would have been told they weren’t at high risk, but given access to healthy lifestyle information. This way, we hope that the risk score will be useful for participants, whatever their result.”