Aim: To assess whether the FINDRISC, a risk score fortype 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), has been externally validated in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Methods:We conducted a systematic review following the CHARMS framework. Reports were included if they validated or re-estimated the FINDRISCin population-based samples, health facilities or administrative data. Reports were excluded if they only studiedpatients or at-risk individuals. The search was conducted in Medline, Embase, Global Health, Scopus and LILACS. Risk of bias was assessedwith the PROBAST tool. Results:From 1,582 titles and abstracts, 4 (N=7,502) reports were included for qualitatively summary. All reports were from South America; there were slightly more women and themean age rangedfrom 29.5 to 49.7 years. Undiagnosed T2DM prevalence ranged from 2.6% to 5.1%. None of the studies conducted an independent external validation of the FINDRISC; conversely, they used the same (or very similar) predictors to fit a new model.None of the studies reported calibration metrics. The area under the receiver operating curve was consistently above 65.0%. All studies had high risk of bias.Conclusion:There has not been any external validation of the FINDRISCmodelin LAC. Selected reportsre-estimated the FINDRISC, though they have several methodologicallimitations. There is a need for big data to develop -or improve-T2DM diagnostic and prognostic models in LAC. This could benefit T2DM screening and early diagnosis.