894-P: The Risk for Type 2 Diabetes beyond Age: Contributors to the FINDRISC-Score in Each Age Category

With increasing age, the risk for type 2 diabetes increases. Little is known about the relative importance of other risk factors for different age groups. Pharmacy customers in Germany completed the FINDRISC questionnaire. An ANOVA with age category as between factor and the age-adjusted FINDRISC-score as the dependent variable was conducted. Separate linear regression analyses for each age group were conducted to predict the total risk score from the risk factors. A total of 292 people participated. The ANOVA revealed that while the age-adjusted risk score for the first age category (< 35 years) was significantly different from all other age categories (p < .01 for all comparisons), there were no differences between the different age categories ≥ 35 years (p > .35 for all) indicating a similar risk exposition across these age groups. Results of the linear regression analyses (Table) revealed that the relative importance of genetic factors in younger people (< 35 years) is more pronounced and relatively more important than other factors. Additionally, fat distribution played an important role only in the youngest age groups. In older people, the importance of genetic factors for the overall risk score dropped while previously elevated blood sugar levels were more important. Understanding possible risk factors beyond age are helpful to develop targeted educational material or raise awareness for specific age groups.