Alterations in HbA1c with advancing age in subjects with normal glucose tolerance: Chandigarh Urban Diabetes Study (CUDS)

Objective To study the alterations in HbA(1c) with advancing age in subjects with normal glucose tolerance. Methods Community-based cross-sectional study involving 2368 subjects aged >= 20 years from Chandigarh, India. All the subjects underwent an oral glucose tolerance test with 75 g anhydrous glucose and were classified as having normal glucose tolerance, pre-diabetes or diabetes according to World Health Organization 1999 criteria. HbA(1c) was measured on a National Glycohemoglobin Standardization Program-certified Bio-Rad D-10 system and the data were available for 1972 subjects. Results Out of 1972 subjects, 1317 (67%) subjects had normal glucose tolerance. There was a significant positive correlation between mean HbA(1c) and age in these subjects (r = 0.308, P-trend < 0.001). The increase in HbA(1c) with each advancing year was 0.01% above the age of 20 years and corrected HbA(1c)(%) for age was 5.09 + 0.01 (age). The 95th percentile of HbA(1c) exceeded 6.5% (48 mmol/mol) (the American Diabetes Association cut-off for diagnosis of diabetes) in subjects aged >= 70 years. A significantly higher number (6.5%, 21/325) of subjects had HbA(1c) of >= 6.5%(48 mmol/mol) in those above the age of 50 years compared with those below the age of 50 years (1.7%, 17/992) in the group with normal glucose tolerance (P < 0.001). On multivariate regression analysis, after adjusting for BMI, fasting plasma glucose and 2-h plasma glucose post-glucose load, the correlation of HbA(1c) with age still remained significant (r = 0.241, P < 0.01). Conclusion HbA(1c) increases with advancing age independent of glycaemia, suggesting caution when seeking to achieve the recommended HbA(1c) targets in the elderly population. Diabet. Med. 28, 590-594 (2011)