J Prev Med Public Health.  2010 Sep;43(5):451-454. 10.3961/jpmph.2010.43.5.451.

A Comparison of Fasting Glucose and HbA1c for the Diagnosis of Diabetes Mellitus Among Korean Adults

• Yun WJ
• Shin MH
• Kweon SS
• Park KS
• Lee YH
• Nam HS
• Jeong SK
• Yun YW
• Choi JS

• KMID: 983832
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3961/jpmph.2010.43.5.451

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has recently recommended the HbA1c assay as one of four options for making the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, with a cut-point of > or =6.5%. We compared the HbA1c assay and the fasting plasma glucose level for making the diagnosis of diabetes among Korean adults.
METHODS
We analyzed 8710 adults (age 45-74 years), who were not diagnosed as having diabetes mellitus, from the Namwon study population. A fasting plasma glucose level of > or =126 mg/dL and an A1c of > or =6.5% were used for the diagnosis of diabetes. The kappa index of agreement was calculated to measure the agreement between the diagnosis based on the fasting plasma glucose level and the HbA1c.
RESULTS
The kappa index of agreement between the fasting plasma glucose level and HbA1c was 0.50.
CONCLUSIONS
The agreement between the fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c for the diagnosis of diabetes was moderate for Korean adults.

Keyword

Diabetes mellitus; Diagnosis; Fasting plasma glucose; Hemoglobin A1c

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Anemia, Aplastic/*diagnosis
Child
Child, Preschool
Diagnosis, Differential
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Middle Aged
Platelet Count/*standards
Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic/*diagnosis
Reference Values
Reproducibility of Results
Sex Factors