title: Cessation of menstruation improves the correlation of FPG to hemoglobin A1c in Caucasian women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Anemia is known to cause spurious hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) results. The effect of menstruation on HbA1c was tested by correlating it to FPG in non-anemic premenopausal and in menopausal women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Non-diabetic, non-obese middle-aged Caucasian women were classified as premenopausal or menopausal. Hemogram, FPG, and A1c results were obtained.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hemoglobin concentrations were lower in the premenopausal group. FPG showed a poor correlation to A1c value overall (r = 0.251, p = 0.001) which was improved by multiplying the A1c % by the total hemoglobin concentration to create an absolute A1c value (r = 0.362, p = 0.000). When the data was sorted by menopause status, the correlation of FPG to Absolute A1c improved (r = 0.463, p = 0.000) in the menopausal women, but remained low (r = 0.283, p = 0.005) in the premenopausal women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Menstruation may be a significant factor affecting the accuracy of A1c concentrations.
authors.affiliation: Program in Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Department of Biology, Division of Life and Health Sciences, University of West Florida, Pensacola 32514, USA. kbehan@uwf.edu
authors.forename: Kristina Jackson
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Behan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin