QBRI and QCRI jointly publish risk tool to fight diabetes
SCIENTISTS from Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI) and Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) have jointly published the first risk score to screen for prediabetes in the Middle East, where prevalence is one of the highest in the world.
The research team was led by Dr. Abdelilah Arredouani, a scientist at QBRI’s Diabetes Research Center, and Dr. Halima Bensmail, a senior scientist at QCRI. Using machine learning techniques, researchers analysed associations between prediabetes and data from approximately 8,000 participants of the Qatar Biobank (QBB), including Qatari citizens and long-term residents. The team developed a tool called PRISQ (Prediabetes Risk Score Qatar) that uses non-invasively measured risk factors instead of a blood test to screen for prediabetes.
PRISQ uses body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, age, gender, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure to calculate a score that indicates the risk of prediabetes. PRISQ can therefore be easily used by primary health care personnel and even the public in clinical or community settings. The tool will be available as a standalone web
server as well as an application that can be downloaded to any smartphone.
Commenting on the outcome of the joint research, Dr. Arredouani said: “Our multidisciplinary collabora
tion with QCRI has allowed us to make swift progress on developing the first tool of its kind in the Middle East and the first to be developed using data from the Qatari population. PRISQ is set to become very important for the early detection of individuals with prediabetes and, ultimately, in curbing the diabetes epidemic in the region. It is an affirmation of our shared commitment to tackling challenges that impact on the lives of people in Qatar and across the Middle East.”
Dr. Bensmail, said: “We are honoured to be engaged with our peers at QBRI to advance research into prediabetes. Our collective efforts have generated a crucial solution for a problem that is endemic to the region, clearly showing how much more we can achieve collectively. It is our hope that this new costeffective tool will help people to make the necessary lifestyle changes to delay or prevent type 2 diabetes.”
Prediabetes dramatically increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Indeed, 5 to 10 of people with prediabetes develop type 2 diabetes every year. In addition, for every 100 healthy individuals, only five will develop type 2 diabetes within six years. However, for every 100 prediabetes individuals, between 33 and 65 will develop type 2 diabetes within six years.
Recent scientific evidence has shown that the progression from prediabetes to type 2 diabetes can be prevented or at least delayed in a large number of people with prediabetes in response to intensive lifestyle interventions.
These findings make the early identification of individuals with pre-diabetes particularly important and highlight PRISQ as a significant, highly cost-effective step towards stemming the type 2 diabetes epidemic in the Middle East region.
The joint QBRI-QCRI study was published in the Journal of Diabetes Investigation and can be accessed online at https: pubmed. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov 33075216
For more information on the work of the Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, please visit qbri.hbku.edu.qa and learn more about the Qatar Computing Research Institute, please visit qcri.hbku. edu.qa.