The population at age 40 and every three years after age 45, in the absence of risk factors for diabetes, should have their fasting venous plasma glucose tested (aged 40, 45, 48, 51, 54, 57, 60, 63, 66, 69,72).
If the general practitioner finds that the patient is overweight (body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m2) and has at least one other risk factor or borderline hyperglycaemia at the time of the previous glucose test, then fasting venous plasma glucose should be measured annually during the preventive check-up.
As the body ages, everyone is more likely to develop diabetes, with the fastest increase in incidence in people over 40. Diabetes is a leading cause of stroke, myocardial infarction, blindness, kidney failure and lower limb amputation. In 80% of cases, type 2 diabetes can be prevented by following a healthy lifestyle.
There are more than 90,000 registered diabetes patients in Latvia. In 65% of cases, diabetes is diagnosed when the late complications of diabetes have already developed.
In order to improve early diagnosis of diabetes, timely initiation of treatment and care and to prevent diabetes complications, an algorithm for screening and diagnosis of diabetes was developed for general practitioners in collaboration with endocrinologists.