Discordance between fasting glucose-based and hemoglobin A1c-based diagnosis of diabetes mellitus in Koreans

Abstract

We analyzed data of 35,624 non-diabetic Koreans using fasting plasma glucose (FPG) criteria and HbA1c criteria in screening for diabetes. Among the 1,491 subjects newly diagnosed with diabetes, 473 (31.6%) met the FPG criteria only (≥7.0 mmol/l), 350 (23.5%) met HbA1c criteria only (≥6.5%), and 668 (44.9%) met both criteria. The DM-by-HbA1c group had significantly older age, higher proportion of women, and lower hemoglobin concentration. The DM-by-FPG group had higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting serum insulin, and HOMA-IR. Further studies are needed to determine which of these criteria is superior in predicting the risks of long-term vascular complications of diabetes.