Objective: We investigated the clinical usefulness of HbA1c in screening an average-risk group <50 years of age who need colonoscopy for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening.
Methods: Eight hundred nineteen asymptomatic males who underwent colonoscopy for CRC screening with blood chemistries between January 2006 and December 2006 were enrolled. The ages of the subjects ranged from 40 to 59.
Results: Subjects in their 50 s had significantly more adenomatous polyps than subjects in their 40 s (32.7% vs. 26.0%, p < 0.05). The incidence of adenomatous polyp increased with increasing quartiles of HbA1C as follows: first quartile (19.9%, HbA1c 4.0-5.0), second quartile (27.8%, HbA1c 5.1-5.3), third quartile (32.7%, HbA1c 5.4-5.5), and fourth quartile (34.9%, HbA1c = 5.6-8.8)(p = 0.008). When combining quartile of HbA1c and age (40 s vs. 50 s) according to HbA1C levels, the odds ratio for adenomatous polyp in subjects in their 40 s with HbA1c <5.4% was significantly lower than that in subjects in their 50 s. However, the odds ratio for adenomatous polyp in subjects in their 40 s with HbA1c > or =5.4% was similar to that in subjects in their 50 s with average risk for CRC.
Conclusions: An elevated HbA1c may be useful as a clinical predictor of adenomatous polyps in male subjects <50 years of age who have average risk for CRC.