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Is HbA1c a reliable diagnostic marker for diabetes mellitus in patients with iron deficiency anaemia?: A cross sectional study

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Original Article

Author Details : Anju Sharma, Harmanjot Singh Kalra*, Rohit Arora, Sahiba Kukreja

Volume : 7, Issue : 1, Year : 2020

Article Page : 12-18

https://doi.org/10.18231/j.ijcbr.2020.003

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Abstract

Purpose of the study: The high prevalence of diabetes in the rural population of India required an early and
accurate diagnostic tool. There were several techniques standardized and recommended by the American
Diabetes Association. Some of the techniques were plasma glucose, oral glucose tolerance test, and HbA1c.
The efficacy of HbA1c is questionable in individuals having a low haemoglobin content. This situation is
further aggravated due to high anaemic individuals in rural population. This study was therefore designed
for analyzing the efficacy of HbA1c in diagnosing diabetes in anaemic individuals.
Brief description of the experiment: The experiment involves the enrolment of individuals who are
diabetic. Further, these individuals were divided into anaemic and non-anaemic individuals. Here, anaemic
individuals were termed as cases and non-anaemic individuals were termed as controls. Samples were
collected from both the cases and controls and analyzed for fasting plasma glucose, serum iron and direct
TIBC, HbA1c levels, and oral glucose tolerance test.
Results: The results obtained in this study shows that the HbA1c levels were lower in the anaemic
individuals as compared to the non-anaemic diabetic individuals. There was a positive correlation between
Hb level and HbA1c level in an individual, thus indicating that an increase in the Hb level will cause an
increase in the HbA1c level in diabetic individuals.
Conclusion: The study provides a baseline that HbA1c can’t be considered as a reliable tool for diagnosing
diabetes in anaemic individuals. Further extensive studies are required to strengthen these findings with
respect to a larger population.

Keywords: Diabetes, HbA1c, Anaemia, Iron, Haemoglobin.

How to cite : Sharma A, Kalra H S, Arora R, Kukreja S, Is HbA1c a reliable diagnostic marker for diabetes mellitus in patients with iron deficiency anaemia?: A cross sectional study. Int J Clin Biochem Res 2020;7(1):12-18

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