Evidence Based Practice Essay

Benchmark Diabetes
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Benchmark Diabetes
The article chosen for this review is titled HbA1c as a Diagnostic Test for Diabetes Mellitus – Reviewing the Evidence by Chris Florkowski. The article discusses the use of HbA1c as a diagnostic test for the determination of type 2 diabetes in an adult population. The new diagnostic test was selected out of the understanding that the traditional diagnostic tests might not have been effective in the determination of diabetes in certain populations. The development of the HbA1c test has been instrumental in the determination and treatment of type 2 diabetes in adults.
Many countries have now endorsed the HbA1c test as a diagnostic test for type 2 diabetes in adults. Despite its widespread usage, there is still a lot of debate regarding this diagnostic test. Today, most health care providers use blood glucose levels to test for diabetes in adults. The challenge that this type of test presents however is that blood glucose level test is only ideal for the testing of type 1 diabetes. This is because the type 1 diabetes presents with symptoms and unequivocal hyperglycemia thus making its diagnosis easy. On the contrary, type 2 diabetes is slower as the blood glucose levels rise slowly. Due to the risks associated with diabetes, it is imperative to come up with new diagnosis mechanisms of diagnosing this type of diabetes (Bruns, & Knowler, 2011).
Unlike the traditional blood glucose tests that use glucose levels as an indication of diabetes, the HbA1c provides an indication of chronic glycaemia instead of being a test of glycaemia at one point in life. The test provides an integrated index of glycaemia over a three month lifespan of the red blood cell. During the three months, recent glycaemia has the biggest influence on the HbA1c with 50% of HbA1c being formed the last month and a further 25% the month prior to that. This makes this diagnostic tool ideal in testing a disease that is demonstrated by acute hyperglycemia and a slow progression to complications (Florkowski, 2013).
According to Florkowski, the HbA1c test is also convenient as the patient does not have to fast and does not call for multiple blood samples. This makes it an ideal testing tool as it enhances the testing experience and improves the chances of detection considering the large number of diabetes cases in adults that go undiagnosed. The oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) which is the other type of testing that is in use today calls for an ideal diet 3 days before the test is administered as well as an ideal period of overnight fasting. This test is also ti...