The impact of sickle cell trait on glycated haemoglobin in diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Aims To determine the effect of sickle cell trait on measurement of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) in African American patients with diabetes mellitus. Methods This is a retrospective study including 885 outpatients who underwent HbA1c testing. Medical record review and sickle cell trait determinations based on the HbA1c assay were performed in African American participants. The relationship between HbA 1c and serum glucose measurements was analysed. Results Data were obtained from 385 AA (109 with SCT, 22 with haemoglobin C trait and 254 without haemoglobinopathy) and 500 European American patients. In a model created through multivariate repeated-effects regression, the relationship between HbA1c and simultaneous serum glucose did not differ between African American subjects with and without the sickle cell trait, but differed between African American subjects without the sickle cell trait and European Americans (P = 0.0002). Conclusions Sickle cell trait does not impact the relationship between HbA1c and serum glucose concentration. In addition, it does not appear to account for ethnic difference in this relationship between African Americans and whites. © 2010 Diabetes UK.