Routine glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) testing in urban emergency departments identifies a large number of people with undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes, according to a study published June 3 in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care. The authors say that emergency department screening is both feasible and effective in finding previously undiagnosed cases of diabetes and prediabetes in high prevalence areas. Diabetes has traditionally been diagnosed by fasting blood glucose tests or the oral glucose tolerance test. However, recent adoption of HbA1c simplifies the diagnostic process, by eliminating pre-test preparation, and enables wider screening. It may be key to targeting screening in high-risk populations where diabetes- related complications resulting from underdetection remain a problem. “Rapidly identifying admitted patients with poor glycemic control utilizing a test on a single blood sample that does not require any pretest preparation provides an ideal opportunity for intervention by hospital diabetes services,” write the authors led by Tien-Ming Hng, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., from Blacktown Hospital in Australia. “The visit to [the] emergency department is an opportunity for us to detect diabetes in individuals who infrequently seek routine medical care, and who may otherwise go undetected.” Australian researchers conducted random glucose testing in patients requiring blood sampling in an […]