The objective of this study was to design a reliable, valid and culturally appropriate risk questionnaire and determine its effectiveness as a tool for the early detection of type 2 diabetes mellitus in Trinidad. Initially, a questionnaire with 21 close-ended questions on known risk factors for diabetes was administered to 456 patients, and a series of logistic regressions extracted the most significant factors (p<0.05). These factors were scored using their odds ratio and a tool/questionnaire was created and administered to 232 patients. The scoring system was revised following logistic regressions using combined data from both phases and a cut-off score determined with suitable specificity/sensitivity ratios. Trinidad Risk Assessment Questionnaire for Diabetes (TRAQ-D) was compared to body mass index (BMI) and age independently, using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. TRAQ-D, includes seven factors: age, sex, BMI, family history of diabetes, ethnicity, smoking and waist circumference. A score ≥ 17 was used to recommend further testing (specificity: 90.7%, sensitivity: 61.4%). Compared with BMI and age, the area under the ROC curve for TRAQ-D was significantly higher (0.884). TRAQ-D is the only currently available non-invasive screening tool for type 2 diabetes that has been created and tested in the Trinidad population. It is reliable, inexpensive and a useful indicator of the need for any further screening tests.
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