EVALUATION OF AWARENESS ABOUT THE ROLE OF GLYCATED HEMOGLOBIN AS A MARKER IN DIABETIC PATIENTS

Background The prevalence of type II diabetes is increasing at an alarming rate. Early detection, intervention and control of blood sugar can prevent systemic complications and morbidity. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is a test that does not require fasting and with fewer perturbations with stress, diet and exercise. It is now widely recognized for the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (DM) and as an indicator for the efficacy of treatment. Limited data is available about the awareness of the role of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in northern India Material and Methods Data was collected between 1/5/14 to 31/3/15 from 500 diabetic patients both male and female aged 20-80 years attending the outdoor patient department at Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences, Jalandhar, India by interview method. The questionnaire consisted of both open ended and close ended questions and the data was analyzed by SPSS ver11.0. Results Most (50%) patients knew blood sugar estimation to be the test for DM but did not know the desirable levels. However more than 75% of the patients did not know the use, frequency and normal ranges of HbA1c. Conclusions Apart from biochemical analysis of blood sugar and HbA1c, educating the general population about HbA1c, its use, range and frequency would help the clinicians in managing the patients in a holistic manner. Data presented in this study would be useful to the healthcare policy makers to educate and create awareness in the general population about the control of blood sugar in DM.