Abstract

BVUMBI, Chido W. et al. Diagnostic cut-off value of haemoglobin A1c for diabetes mellitus in Harare, Zimbabwe. Afr. J. Lab. Med. [online]. 2024, vol.13, n.1, pp.1-5. ISSN 2225-2010.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ajlm.v13i1.2373.

Very little is known about the diagnostic performance of the American Diabetes Association glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) cut-off of 6.5% in resource-limited settings. This study, conducted between February 2023 and May 2023, aimed to determine the optimal HbA1c cut-off for the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus by measuring HbA1c and fasting plasma glucose levels in 120 adults attending care at a tertiary hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe. The optimal HbA1c cut-off was 6.1% and glucose levels were strongly correlated with HbA1c values. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus was higher (28.3%) at our derived HbA1c cut-off than with the American Diabetes Association criterion (21.6%). WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: This study highlights the need for population-specific cut-off HbA1c values in the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus.

Keywords : glycated haemoglobin; diabetes mellitus; fasting plasma glucose; receiver operating characteristics curves; Zimbabwe.

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