An A1c of 6.2% is a More Sensitive Determinant of Diabetes in the Elderly

HbA1c has a low sensitivity to diagnose diabetes in older Asian subjects and caution is required when using HbA1c in isolation. This raises the possibility that a different cut-off value for different age groups may be more appropriate. Patients were stratified into 4 age groups in a cross-sectional study of 90 patients without previous history of diabetes and who underwent screening with both oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and HbA1c done at the same time. The authors found that HbA1c of 6.2% is the best cut–off to diagnose diabetes using ROC curve analysis. At the specified HbA1c, the area under ROC curve (AUROC) reduces as age group increases suggesting that sensitivity and specificity of HbA1c as diagnostic marker reduces as age increases. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 05/18/2011