Does Iron Deficiency Anaemia and its Severity Influence HbA1C Level in Non Diabetics? An Analysis of 150 Cases

Abstract

Introduction: Anaemia has a high prevalence having great impact worldwide and potentially contributing to the pathogenesis of various chronic diseases. Approximately 1/3rd of patients with anaemia have iron deficiency. American Diabetes Association (ADA) has affirmed Glycated Haemoglobin (HbA1C) ≥ 6.5% as a diagnostic criterion for Diabetes Mellitus (DM). Variation of HbA1C in Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA) has clashing results. Aim: To decide the impact of IDA on HbA1C levels among non diabetics. To assess and analyse the variation of HbA1C according to the degree of anaemia (mild, moderate and severe). Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Chennai, Tamil Nadu from February 2016 to October 2016 and approved by our Institutional Ethical Committee. Totally 150 non diabetics (75 with IDA and 75 without IDA) were included in this study. Medical history was recorded and HbA1C, Haemoglobin (Hb), Haematocrit (Hct), red cell indices, serum iron, ferritin and Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG) were tested. Results: The IDA patients in this study had a mean HbA1C (6.84±0.07%) which was higher than the non anaemic group (5.12±0.04%) and this difference was statistically significant (p< 0.05). HbA1C level was increased when severity of anaemia worsened. Also, noteworthy statistical significance was observed between no anaemia, mild, moderate and severe anaemia (p< 0.05). Conclusion: In this study, we observed a positive correlation between IDA and elevated HbA1C level in non-diabetic population.

Keywords

• degree of anemia
• glycated hemoglobin
• iron status