Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels fail to diagnose Diabetes and Prediabetes in Arab population

According to the Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes 2011, ADA had recently approved the use of HbA1c levels in diagnosing Diabetes (HbA1c ≥ 6.5%) and Prediabetes (HbA1c levels between 5.7-6.4%). But more and more evidence is accumulating that different cut off values (lower) from the ones suggested by  ADA may be needed in different target populations like this study showed that there were very high false negatives in Arabs with the use of the recommended HbA1c levels. Similarly low sensitivities for diagnosing diabetes and prediabetes with HbA1c have been reported in non-Hispanic whites or blacks, Filipino-Americans, Japanese-Americans, and Native Hawaiians. Thus, it would be unwise to jump and use the HbA1c levels for different target populations and the use of traditional OGTT along with FBS is recommended until we are able to come up with different cut off levels for different target populations.

Caution is advised to medical professionals diagnosing Diabetes and Prediabetes using HbA1c cut off values suggested by ADA across the board for all target populations as this might delay the diagnosis of Diabetes and Prediabetes and thus contribute to increased mortality and morbidity resulting from delayed detection of this disease. Please click on the links below.

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