Performance of HbA1c as an Early Diagnostic Indicator of Type 1 Diabetes in Children and Youth
Diabetes Care, 06/19/2012
Vehik K et al. – HbA1c ≥6.5% is a specific but not sensitive early indicator for type 1 diabetes (T1D) in high–risk subjects <21 years of age diagnosed by OGTT or asymptomatic hyperglycemia. Redefining the HbA1c threshold is recommended if used as an alternative criterion in diagnosing T1D.
Methods- Subjects <21 years of age who participated in the prospective DPT-1, TEDDY, TRIGR, and Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet Natural History (TrialNet) studies and had an HbA1c within 90 days of an OGTT with a 2-h plasma glucose (2-hPG) measure were included.
- An OGTT of 140–199 mg/dL defined IGT, and an OGTT with 2-hPG ≥200 mg/dL or fasting plasma glucose ≥126 mg/dL defined diabetes.
- HbA1c ≥5.7% defined IGT, and HbA1c ≥ 6.5% defined diabetes.
- Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis was used to assess diagnostic accuracy of HbA1c compared with OGTT.
- There were 587 subjects from DPT-1, 884 from TrialNet, 91 from TEDDY, and 420 from TRIGR.
- As an indicator for IGT, HbA1c sensitivity was very low across the studies (8–42%), and specificity was variable (64–95%).
- With HbA1c ≥6.5% threshold used for T1D diagnosis, the sensitivity was very low and specificity was high (sensitivity and specificity: DPT-1 24 and 98%, TrialNet 28 and 99%, TEDDY 34 and 98%, and TRIGR 33 and 99%, respectively).
- The positive predictive value of HbA1c ≥6.5% for the development of T1D was variable (50–94%) across the four studies.
