title: Point-of-care capillary HbA1c measurement in the emergency department: a useful tool to detect unrecognized and uncontrolled diabetes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Inpatient hyperglycaemia and diabetes mellitus (DM) are common and are associated with an increased risk of complications and mortality. The severity of hyperglycaemia determines the rate of complications in patients treated in the emergency department (ED). Our aim was to examine whether determination of the capillary haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is a reliable method for detecting unknown diabetes and poor glycaemic control in the ED.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective observational study was conducted in adult (>18 years) patients treated in a single-centre ED. We compared the results of HbA1c levels measured by Bio-Rad in2it point-of-care device on a capillary blood sample and by the hospital laboratory.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 187 ED patients with an average age of 57.1 ± 19.2 years were studied. The mean HbA1c value was 5.78 ± 1.26 % by capillary POC testing and 6.10 ± 1.12 % by the hospital laboratory (correlation = 0.712, P < 0.001). A total of 17.1 % of cases had a prior diagnosis of DM. The diagnosis of DM (plasma glucose > 126 mg/dL and/or HbA1c > 6.5 %) was made in ten (5.4 %) additional cases (prior undiagnosed DM) for a total prior DM prevalence of 22.5 % (95 % CI 16.4-28.5 %). Capillary HbA1c detected 11 additional cases of unknown DM (5.9 %). A capillary HbA1c value greater than 6 % has a sensitivity of 85.7 % and specificity of 85.3 % for the screening of DM.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Determination of the capillary HbA1c in the ED is a reliable, fast, and simple system for the screening of unknown or uncontrolled DM.
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology and Nutrition Unit, Hospital General de Segovia, c/ Miguel Servet S.N., 40003, Segovia, Spain. fgomezperalta@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0106-0091
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gomez-Peralta
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology and Nutrition Unit, Hospital General de Segovia, c/ Miguel Servet S.N., 40003, Segovia, Spain. cabreupadin@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Abreu
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Nuestra Señora de Sonsoles, C/ Avda. Juan Carlos I, s/n, 05004, Ávila, Spain. la_leoncia@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Leonor
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Andreu-Urioste
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Nuestra Señora de Sonsoles, C/ Avda. Juan Carlos I, s/n, 05004, Ávila, Spain. acantoliroyo2002@yahoo.es.
authors.forename: Ana Cristina
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Antolí
authors.affiliation: Emergency Department, Hospital Nuestra Señora de Sonsoles, C/ Avda. Juan Carlos I, s/n, 05004, Ávila, Spain. mamenrico@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rico-Fontsaré
authors.affiliation: Emergency Department, Hospital Nuestra Señora de Sonsoles, C/ Avda. Juan Carlos I, s/n, 05004, Ávila, Spain. campeon.david@gmail.com.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martín-Fernández
authors.affiliation: Emergency Department, Hospital Nuestra Señora de Sonsoles, C/ Avda. Juan Carlos I, s/n, 05004, Ávila, Spain. rosaresinarufes@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Resina-Rufes
authors.affiliation: Emergency Department, Hospital Nuestra Señora de Sonsoles, C/ Avda. Juan Carlos I, s/n, 05004, Ávila, Spain. juanjesus13@yahoo.es.
authors.forename: Juan Jesús
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Pérez-García
authors.affiliation: Emergency Department, Hospital Nuestra Señora de Sonsoles, C/ Avda. Juan Carlos I, s/n, 05004, Ávila, Spain. angelanm16@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Ángela
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Negrete-Muñoz
authors.affiliation: Emergency Department, Hospital Nuestra Señora de Sonsoles, C/ Avda. Juan Carlos I, s/n, 05004, Ávila, Spain. dondani60@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Muñoz-Álvarez
authors.affiliation: General Clinical Research Center, Emory University, 49 Jesse Hill Jr. Dr., Atlanta, GA, 30303, USA. geumpie@emory.edu.
authors.forename: Guillermo E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Umpierrez
keywords: Diabetes; Emergency medicine; Point-of-care HbA1c; Public health; Screening