Study of the effect of altitude on the measurement of glycated haemoglobin using point-of-care instruments

Sandra W Veigne; Eugene Sobngwi; Brice E Nouthe; Joelle Sobngwi-Tambekou; Eric V Balti; Serge Limen; Mesmin Y Dehayem; Vicky Ama; Jean- Louis Nguewa; Maimouna Ndour-Mbaye; Alioune Camara; Naby M Balde; Jean- Claude Mbanya

doi:10.5830/CVJA-2014-078

Study of the effect of altitude on the measurement of glycated haemoglobin using point-of-care instruments

Cardiovasc J Afr. 2015 Jan-Feb;26(1):38-40. doi: 10.5830/CVJA-2014-078.

Affiliations

¹ National Obesity Center, Yaoundé Central Hospital and Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
² National Obesity Center, Yaoundé Central Hospital and Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon; Molecular Medicine and Metabolism Laboratories, Bio-technology Center, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon. [email protected].
³ National Obesity Center, Yaoundé Central Hospital and Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon; Department of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁴ Centre of Higher Education in Health Sciences, Catholic University of Central Africa, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
⁵ National Obesity Center, Yaoundé Central Hospital and Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon; Diabetes Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Brussels Free University-VUB, Brussels, Belgium.
⁶ Cheick Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal.
⁷ University Teaching Hospital of Donka, Conakry, Guinea.
⁸ National Obesity Center, Yaoundé Central Hospital and Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon; Molecular Medicine and Metabolism Laboratories, Bio-technology Center, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon; University of Technology, Kingston, Jamaica.

Abstract

We measured the glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels of a total of 24 non-diabetic volunteers and diabetic patients using a point-of-care (POC) analyser in three Cameroonian cities at different altitudes. Although 12 to 25% of duplicates had more than 0.5% (8 mmol/mol) difference across the sites, HbA1c values correlated significantly (r = 0.89-0.96). Further calibration studies against gold-standard measures are warranted.

Publication types

Comparative Study
Multicenter Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Altitude*
Biomarkers / blood
Kamerun
Case-Control Studies
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diabetes Mellitus / blood*
Diabetes Mellitus / diagnosis
Equipment Design
Female
Glycated Hemoglobin / analysis*
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Point-of-Care Systems* / standards
Point-of-Care Testing* / standards
Predictive Value of Tests
Reproducibility of Results

Substances

Biomarkers
Glycated Hemoglobin A
hemoglobin A1c protein, human