[Results of screening for diabetes within the health-care program of vienna (author's transl)].

Within the health-care program of Vienna 1577 volunteers (1203 female, 374 male persons) were screened for diabetes mellitus during 1975/76. Besides measurement of glucose tolerance one hour after the ingestion of 100 g glucose the following parameters were analyzed: cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid and blood pressure. Male persons had a slightly decreased glucose tolerance; a distinct relationship with age was found in both sexes. After elimination of volunteers in whom pathological results were obtained with respect to other examined parameters, a significantly greater glucose tolerance was found in the remaining "normal" group. There are no parameters which are closely correlated with glucose tolerance although it was possible to reject the null-hypothesis in several cases due to the large sample involved. For statistical reasons (test sensitivity, test specificity, prevalence of disease) single glucose-tolerance measurements do not give enough evidence for diagnosing diabetes mellitus. Depending on the aims of the screening program one has to define the detection limits as well as frequency of retesting.