Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) reflects blood glucose levels over 8–12 weeks and is the gold standard for assessing long-term glycemic control. It serves three functions:
Evaluate whether the current diabetes treatment regimen is effective;
Determine whether the treatment regimen needs adjustment;
Assess the risk of diabetic complications.Glycated hemoglobin is closely associated with both microvascular and macrovascular diabetic complications.Each 1% reduction in glycated hemoglobin lowers the risk of all diabetes-related endpoints and diabetes-related death by 21%, myocardial infarction by 14%, and microvascular complications by 37%.
Therefore, to prevent diabetic complications, patients with diabetes must pay close attention to glycated hemoglobin.
If blood glucose is well-controlled: test glycated hemoglobin every 6 months.
If blood glucose is poorly controlled or the treatment regimen has been adjusted recently: test every 3 months.Reminder: For most people with diabetes, the target glycated hemoglobin level is below 7.0%.Different types of hypoglycemic agents vary in their ability to lower glycated hemoglobin.Glycated hemoglobin can be measured via venous blood sampling in hospital, and fasting is not required.