Impact of Age on HbA1c Level of Diabetic Patients Attending Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Zaria, Nigeria

Abstract

The present study looked into the possibility of impact of age on HbA1c level of diabetic patients attending Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) Zaria, Nigeria, as there have been reports of correlation between age and HbA1c in some other parts of the world. Three hundred and fifty (350) diabetic patients were initially recruited over a period of 10 months, from March 2018 to December 2018. Subjects consisted of 200 female and 150 male diabetic patients. After 10-12 hours fast, 5mL of blood was drawn from volunteer patients. About 3mL was centrifuged in order to separate the serum after which the serum was then analysed for glucose. Two hundred and fifteen (215) subjects, comprising of 110 female and 105 male diabetic patients, with ages between 46 years and 84 years (mean age = 65±19 years) and mean blood glucose of 200±20 mg/dL were then selected for the study. The remaining 2mL whole blood was analysed immediately for HbA1c. Information about patient’s age was obtained via a well-designed questionnaire and matched with hospital record. There was no significant difference in the mean HbA1c levels of male and female participants. For the given blood glucose range, the HbA1c level increased by 0.2%, proportionally, with every decade (10 years) increase in age. It was concluded that HbA1c increases consistently – independent of blood glucose and gender – with increase in age of diabetic patients.