Cardiometabolic disease staging score quantifies diabetes risk

(HealthDay)—For overweight and obese individuals, the Cardiometabolic Disease Staging (CMDS) score can quantify the risk of diabetes and predict the effectiveness of weight-loss therapy for preventing diabetes, according to research published online April 28 in Diabetes Care.

Fangjian Guo, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, and W. Timothy Garvey, M.D., from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, pooled data from 3,040 overweight and obese participants in three randomized trials examining the efficacy and safety of phentermine/topiramate extended release (ER) for weight loss. Overweight/obese adult patients were treated with a lifestyle intervention and randomized to either placebo or once-daily phentermine/topiramate ER in these trials. Baseline clinical data were used to calculate the weighted CMDS score.

The researchers found that the absolute decrease in one-year diabetes incidence rates for subjects treated with medication versus placebo was greatest, intermediate, and small for those with high-risk CMDS scores, moderate CMDS risk, and low-risk CMDS scores, respectively (10.43 to 6.29 percent, 4.67 to 2.37 percent, and 1.51 to 0.50 percent, respectively). Over a 56-week period, for participants with baseline CMDS scores of ≥60, 30 to 59, and 0 to 29, the number of participants needed to treat to prevent one new case of diabetes was 24, 43, and 120, respectively.

"CMDS can be used to quantify risk of diabetes in overweight/obese individuals and predict the effectiveness of weight-loss therapy to prevent diabetes," the authors write.

One author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.