Article ID: EJ11-0276
We examined the correlation between plasma glucose (PG) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) to evaluate the usefulness and limitations of applying the new diagnostic criteria for diabetes to Japanese pediatric patients. Data were collected from 298 school children who took an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) at a school-based urinary glucose screening program in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area between 1988 and 2009. Mean (SD) age of the children was 11.9 (2.5) years. Male-to-female ratio was 1:1.1. Children were diagnosed with renal glucosuria (n=146), diabetes mellitus (n=133), or the Japan Diabetes Society (JDS) “borderline type” (n=19). Median (range) values of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), 2-h plasma glucose in an OGTT (OGTT-2h), and HbA1c were 101 (76-378) mg/dL, 146.5 (57-563) mg/dL, and 6.05 (4.7-14.1) %. The correlation between PG and HbA1c was analyzed using least squares regression, and HbA1c was found to highly correlate with PG. From estimated regression equations, mean values of FPG and OGTT-2h corresponding to an HbA1c of 6.5% were calculated to be 111.4 mg/dL and 170.4 mg/dL. The mean values of HbA1c corresponding to an FPG of 126 mg/dL and OGTT-2h of 200 mg/dL were calculated to be 7.5% and 7.8%. The mean values of PG corresponding to HbA1c of 6.5% were lower than found in adults as analyzed by JDS. The mean values of HbA1c corresponding to diabetic type PG were higher than found in adults.
