Predictors of glycosylated haemoglobin A1C trend among type 2 diabetes patients in a multi-ethnic country

• Main Authors: Wan, Kim Sui, Hairi, Noran Naqiah, Mustapha, Feisul Idzwan, Mohd Yusof, Khalijah, Mohd Ali, Zainudin, Moy, Foong Ming
• Format: Article
• Published: Nature Research 2021
• Subjects: R Medicine
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/25953/; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86277-0

Good control of glycosylated haemoglobin A1C in diabetes patients prevents cardiovascular complications. We aim to describe the A1C trend and determine the predictors of the trend among type 2 diabetes patients in Malaysia. Longitudinal data in the National Diabetes Registry from 2013 to 2017 were analysed using linear mixed-effects modelling. Among 17,592 patients, 56.3% were females, 64.9% Malays, and the baseline mean age was 59.1 years. The U-shaped A1C trend changed marginally from 7.89% in 2013 to 8.07% in 2017. The A1C excess of 1.07% as reported in 2017 represented about 22% higher risk of diabetes-related death, myocardial infarction, and stroke, which are potentially preventable. The predictors for higher baseline A1C were non-Chinese ethnicity, younger age groups, longer diabetes duration, patients on insulin treatment, polypharmacy use, patients without hypertension, and patients who were not on antihypertensive agents. Younger age groups predicted a linear increase in the A1C trend, whereas patients on insulin treatment predicted a linear decrease in the A1C trend. Specifically, the younger adults and patients of Indian and Malay ethnicities had the poorest A1C trends. Targeted interventions should be directed at these high-risk groups to improve their A1C control. © 2021, The Author(s).