COMPARISON OF KNOWLEDGE AND OUTCOME MEASURE OF HBA1C TESTING IN INDIAN NIDDM PATIENTS OF A NORTH INDIAN CITY WITH THAT OF PATIENTS FROM A METROPOLIS IN SOUTH INDIA

Introduction:Type 2 diabetes is a major health problem in India with rising prevalence. The patients with type 2 diabetes are at high risk of developing retinal, cardio vascular & other complications. Improved glycemic control can reduce the development and/or progression of diabetic complications. The glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) test is a test of long-term glycemic control and an index of average blood glucose level during the past 2-3 months. Its normal result causes reduction in complications of diabetes. Patient’s understanding of HbA1c and its target goal has a positive impact on long-term health. Many diabetics are unaware of the test or do not know their HbA1c levels and/or target goal. Diabetics who are aware of these have better health. In this study we tried to evaluate whether knowledge of this test is associated with a better glycaemic control in Dehradun and also to compare the results with those of a similar study carried out in a metropolitan city. Materials and methods: This is a clinic-based cross-sectional study in which all 213 NIDDM patients attending the retina service of a tertiary level eye care centre in Dehradun from July to September 2011 are included. Exclusion criteria: Any patient who did not suffer from type 2 Diabetes. Baseline demographic and clinical data of all subjects was obtained. Subject’s knowledge about HbA1c test and their target goal was assessed with a questionnaire. Recent HbA1c results were obtained from records. Retinal examination of all these subjects was conducted. Statistical analyses were performed with the SPSS version 10.0 package. Comparisons were done by Chi-square test. P