Three-year screening interval for patients with low HbA1c levels

By Nigel Praities

Patients with HbAlc of below 6.0% have a low likelihood of developing diabetes and are unlikely to need retesting for at least another three years, say Japanese researchers.

Their retrospective cohort study looked at the incidence of Type 2 diabetes in 16,300 apparently healthy adults between 2005 and 2008.

Only a small proportion of those with a baseline HbA1c of below 6.0 went on to develop diabetes.

Of those with a baseline HbAlc of less than 5.0%, only 0.05% developed Type 2 diabetes. Of those with a HbA1c of 5.0–5.4% and 5.5–5.9%, 0.05% and 1.2% respectively went on to develop diabetes.

Those with an HbAlc of above 6.0% fared much worse, with a fifth of those with a HbAlc of 6.0–6.4% developing diabetes.

Lead researcher Dr Osamu Takahashi, a researcher at St Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo, concluded: 'For those with a HbA1C of less than 6.0%, rescreening at intervals shorter than three years identifies few individuals.'

Diabetes Care 2010; 33: 2016-17