The aim of this study was to point out the importance of the work of a nurse in the early detection of persons at increased risk for the development of diabetes at the level of primary health care. DM is a global phenomenon and a major socio-economic and medical problem. The most important tests for the diagnosis of diabetes are the determination of HbA1c and the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The paper conducted a study in the form of analysis of data on examinations performed on 330 patients in 2020 at the Health Center Veliko Gradiste during the implementation of the project “Knowledge to Health” which included screening for early detection of DM type 2 by determining HbA1c-glycosylated hemoglobin and oral glucose tolerance test. The total number of respondents in this study was 330 and the survey was conducted during 2020. The analysis of the study sample showed that more than 184 respondents (55.76%) were female. In relation to age, most respondents were in the age group over 65 (64.54%) years of age in both sexes. This indicates that age (and often associated diseases) is a significant risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Measurement and determination of HbA1c values in both men and women showed that high values were mostly found in people over 65 years of age. The glucose load test in 27 men (oral glucose tolerance test - OGTT test) showed that normal tolerance exists in 10 men over the age of 65, w h ile 3 men over the age of 65 have a high risk of developing diabetes. Diabetes mellitus was determined by a glucose load test in 4 women ove r the age of 65, then in 1 woman aged 55-64, as well as in 2 women aged 45-54. One of the basic tasks of nurses is to conduct health education work with patients, give advice for successf u l treatment and care, and if done properly, it c an reduce one of the most important public health problems of modern society.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.