Systematic Diabetes Screening Using Point-of-Care HbA_1c Testing Facilitates Identification of Prediabetes

Abstract

This prospective longitudinal study compares diabetes screenings between standard practices vs systematically offered point-of-care (POC) hemoglobin A_1c (HbA_1c) tests in patients aged 45 years or older. Systematically screened participants (n = 164) identified 63% (n = 104) with unknown hyperglycemia and 53% (n = 88) in prediabetes. The standard practice (n = 324) screened 22% (n = 73), most commonly by blood glucose (96%); 8% (n = 6) and 33% (n = 24) were found to have diabetes and prediabetes, respectively. The association between screening outcome and screening method was statistically significant (<i>P</i> = 0.005) in favor of HbA_1C HbA_1c may be the most effective method to identify patients unknowingly living in hyperglycemia. Point-of-care tests further facilitate screening evaluation in a timely and feasible fashion.