Seasonal variation of glycated haemoglobin and estimated average glucose in temperate South Africa

Journal of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Seasonal variation of glycated haemoglobin and estimated average glucose in temperate South Africa
 
Creator Ximbi, Sinazo Chale-Matsau, Bettina Rampul, Ashlin Pillay, Tahir
 
Subject chemical pathology glycated haemoglobin; seasonal variation; estimated average glucose; diabetes mellitus; HbA1c
Description Background: Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) is a useful biomarker for the monitoring and diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. In the northern hemisphere, there is evidence of seasonal fluctuations in HbA1c with values being higher in cooler months and lower in warmer months. In the southern hemisphere, there is one description from Australia. It is not known if this would also pertain in other temperate climates. We explored the relationship between seasons, HbA1c and estimated average glucose in South Africa.Methods: This was a retrospective analysis. HbA1c data were obtained from January 2016 to December 2020 from two different provinces with different climates. The mean HbA1c values and mean monthly temperatures were compared for each year.Results: We show seasonal variation for HbA1c and estimated average glucose (eAG) in both provinces (p  0.01). The population was further subdivided and evaluated based on gender and age. Glycated haemoglobin was higher in cooler months and lower in the warmer months for all the data and for both the categories (age and gender; p  0.01).Conclusion: South Africa shows demonstrable seasonal variation in glycated haemoglobin that needs to taken into account when managing diabetes mellitus.Contribution: Awareness of this seasonal effect may assist in more efficient use of HbA1c to monitor and diagnose diabetes mellitus and will assist in modifying therapeutic targets for achieving good glycaemic control.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2024-11-14
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — retrospective study
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/jcmsa.v2i1.107
 
Source Journal of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa; Vol 2, No 1 (2024); 7 pages 2960-110X
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://jcmsa.org.za/index.php/jcmsa/article/view/107/322 https://jcmsa.org.za/index.php/jcmsa/article/view/107/323 https://jcmsa.org.za/index.php/jcmsa/article/view/107/324 https://jcmsa.org.za/index.php/jcmsa/article/view/107/325
 
Coverage South Africa 2016-2020 —
Rights Copyright (c) 2024 Sinazo Ximbi, Bettina Chale-Matsau, Ashlin Rampul, Tahir S. Pillay https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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