Point-of-care HbA1c screening predicts diabetic status of dental patients

Mutual production of proinflammatory cytokines causes a deleterious cyclic relationship between uncontrolled diabetes and periodontal disease. The prevalence of diabetes is escalating out of control. Early detection of pre-diabetes and diabetes may respectively prevent or delay disease onset and eliminate or decrease complications. The dental office offers an opportune site for diabetes screening. This study investigated the ability to precisely screen previously unidentified dental patients for diabetes and pre-diabetes.

In this predictive correlational study, participants were chosen by convenience sampling, and were included based on self-proclaimed risk factors. A point-of-care (POC) fingerstick HbA1c screening identified participants for confirming venous HbA1c laboratory screenings. Kendall's tau analyzed the relationship between POC HbA1c results and classification as diabetic or pre-diabetic based on laboratory HbA1c results. Chi Square, Likelihood Ratio, Cramer's V and Lambda compared the expected and observed results.

Of the 104 diabetes risk questionnaires completed, 75 participants were included in the POC screening. Of these, 34 (71% female and 29% male) had HbA1c levels at or above the American Diabetes Association's (ADA) recommended 5.7% cut-point for pre-diabetes. Three participants were less than age 44, 10 were 44 to 57, and 21 were over 57. Laboratory results categorized 6 participants as normoglycemic and 28 with HbA1c greater than or equal to 5.7%. Kendall's tau (p=0.004) determined POC results can predict diabetic or pre-diabetic laboratory group assignment. Pearson's chi-square (p=0.004), Likelihood ratio (p=0.004) and Cramer's V (p<0.001) concluded a relationship existed between group assignment based on POC HbA1c results and those of subsequent laboratory HbA1c results; Lambda (p=0.145) did not.

Within the limits of this study, it was established that a safe and minimally invasive dental chair-side POC HbA1c screening unveiled previously unidentified diabetic and pre-diabetic patients.