Background: Diabetes mellitus is a rapidly increasing disease worldwide. In the Austrian Diabetes Report 2017, the number of people with diabetes mellitus in Austria is estimated at about seven to eleven percent, of which an assumed 30-35% have not been diagnosed. The -individually adapted- treatment of diabetes mellitus therefore aims to achieve freedom from symptoms and to prevent acute complications and serious secondary diseases. This project report examines whether screening the general population is recommended in guidelines and, if not, what methods are used to recommend screening in subpopulations.

Results: In total, 14 relevant publications on eleven different guidelines were identified through the searches in various sources. The synthesis of the recommendations show the following result: Screening for diabetes mellitus type 1 for adults or for children/adolescents is generally not recommended. Similarly, a population-wide screening programme for diabetes mellitus type 2 is not recommended. For adults, a regular assessment of individual diabetes risk using validated risk assessment tools such as CANRISK or FINDRISC is recommended. Screening for type 2 diabetes mellitus using blood glucose monitoring is subsequently recommended for adults at high risk of diabetes. The guidelines consistently recommend a screening interval of three years. Screening for type 2 diabetes mellitus is recommended for children and adolescents aged eight to ten years or older who are overweight or obese and have at least one additional risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus. In these cases, the guidelines recommend a screening interval of two years. Again, only blood sugar measurements are recommended as a screening test. Urine glucose tests are not mentioned in the context of screening in any of the included guidelines.

Conclusion: The results of this report show that international evidence-based guidelines recommend screening for type 2 diabetes mellitus for those population groups (adults and children/adolescents), who are at high risk of contracting diabetes mellitus. A recommendation for a population-wide screening for diabetes mellitus is not given. Overall, there are no significant inconsistencies between the guidelines regarding the recommendations on screening for diabetes mellitus. However, differences exist between the individual guidelines in the definition of a high risk for diabetes mellitus.