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  • Title: Screening for diabetes with HbA1c: Test performance of HbA1c compared to fasting plasma glucose among Chinese, Malay and Indian community residents in Singapore.
    Author: Lim WY, Ma S, Heng D, Tai ES, Khoo CM, Loh TP.
    Journal: Sci Rep; 2018 Aug 20; 8(1):12419. PubMed ID: 30127499.
    Abstract:
    The prevalence of diabetes in Singapore is high. Screening to facilitate early detection and intervention has been shown to be cost-effective. Current clinical practice guidelines in Singapore recommend screening with fasting plasma glucose (FPG), followed by an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in those with FPG 6.1-6.9 mmol/L. Glycated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) has robust stability at ambient temperature, and can be performed on non-fasted capillary blood samples, making it an attractive potential alternative for screening. However, limitations of HbA1c include differential performance in different races, and its performance as a screening test has not been well characterized in Asian populations. This study compares HbA1c and FPG as diabetes screening modalities in 3540 community-dwelling Singapore residents of Chinese, Malay and Indian race to detect diabetes mellitus diagnosed based on blood glucose (FPG ≥ 7.0 mmol/L, 2 hr OGTT ≥ 11.1 mmol/L). The area under the receiver-operating-characteristic curve (AUC) was higher for FPG compared to HbA1c in the overall population and age, race and age-race strata, but these differences were not statistically significant. HbA1c > = 7.0% identified 95% of individuals with diabetes mellitus, and the remainder had impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). HbA1c cut-off at 6.1% had better sensitivity (0.825) to FPG at 6.1 mmol/L. The positive predictive value of HbA1c at 6.1% was 40-50% in different age-race combinations with a negative predictive value of about 98%. If follow-up screening with FPG is used, a lower cut-off at 5.6 mmol/L is appropriate in identifying people with pre-diabetes, as about 85% of people with HbA1c 6.1-6.9% and FPG 5.6-6.9 mmol/L had IFG/IGT or diabetes in the study sample. HbA1c is an appropriate alternative to FPG as a first-step screening test, and the combination of Hba1c > = 6.1% and FPG > = 5.6 mmol/L would improve the identification of individuals with diabetes mellitus and prediabetes.
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