Diabetes is fast becoming a leading cause of mortality and morbidity, the prevalence of which is increasing rapidly in the Philippines and globally. The Philippines, is estimated to have 7.8 million diabetic patients by year 2030, establishing the fact that diabetes is becoming a major public health issue in the country. To decrease the disease burden, early detection through screening and identifying high risk individuals is imperative. This study is an analytic cross sectional study undertaken to evaluate existing diabetes Type 2 risk screening tools when applied to the local setting. Specifically, it aimed to evaluate their: Sensitivity, Specificity, Predictive values and Likelihood ratios and their overall performance through the ROC AUC and Q value. Simple logistic regression was used to identify significant risk factors associated with Diabetes type 2 in the local setting. A total of 200 respondents were interviewed and anthropometric measurements were taken. Two-by-two tables where generated to calculate sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and likelihood ratios and corresponding ROC AUC was calculated. Results showed various sensitivity and specificity values ranging from 68-94 percent and 34-73 percent respectively. Identified significant risk factors with a p-value of <0.05 were age, waist circumference, physical activity, fruit or vegetables intake, history of hypertension, history of increased blood sugar, has taken blood pressure medications regularly in the past, history of delivering LGA baby, history of gestational DM, family history of Diabetes and the various signs and symptoms associated with diabetes all with a significant p-value of <0.05. Looking through its overall performance, among the risk screening tools assessed, FINRISK had a very good diagnostic accuracy with AUC=0.8241(95% CI: 0.76-0.88), and a sensitivity of 94 percent, specificity of 45 percent. This risk screening tool could then be utilized to identify high risk individuals among 18 years old and above in Zamboanga City, Philippines.

Keyword: Diabetes type 2 Risk screening tools