Diabetes Health in The News: HbA1c Assay Responsible for Participants Misdiagnosed

Those who participated in the Mexico City Diabetes Study may have been misdiagnosed, a new analysis shows. Originally, many in the study were classified as prediabetic or diabetic, according to their HbA1c assay. However, an oral glucose tolerance test later showed many of these patients were within normal ranges.

The HbA1c, as noted by both the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico City and by the ADA, does have a fairly low sensitivity. Because of this, upwards of 45.5% of those in the study were misdiagnosed. The oral test indicated that 30.5% of the 854 adult participants were prediabetic, while 9.4% were type 2 diabetics. However, the HbA1c results were much higher, indicating that 52.8% of those in the study had type 2 diabetes and that 32.9% were prediabetic.

The analysis does not provide a full representation of all individuals living in Mexico, researchers noted.

These findings were published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society on August 31, 2017.