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Background This cross-sectional study has been developed within the framework of the Italian project 'We love your heart' ('Ci sta a cuore il tuo cuore') and reports the results of the initial type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) risk assessment carried out in a big network of community pharmacies in Italy and Spain. Methods In total 4002 pharmacists from 854pharmacies were specifically trained to collect data and perform the evaluation of the probability of developing T2DM among pharmacy customers. The risk of developing T2DM within 10 years was evaluated using the FINDRISC. Results Overall, 7234 (22.1%) subjects were at low risk to develop the disease, whereas 43.3% were at slightly elevated risk (scores 7–11), 19.3% were at moderate (scores 12–14), 13.9% were at high (scores 15–20), and 1.4% were at very high risk (scores > 20). Spanish participants showed higher levels of risk than Italian (16.7 vs. 14.7%) taking the cut-off FINDRISC ≥ 15. Conclusion This study shows that considerable percentage of persons is likely to develop diabetes in the next 10 years. Analyses of the risk factors indicate that men were more susceptible to develop this disease, as well as the Spanish participants respect to Italian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]