EDTA tube

Minimum blood volume: 3 mL

Paediatric EDTA tube

Number of vials: 1

Minimum blood volume: 1.3 mL

Reference interval

(Source: from manufacturer’s kit insert)

The result is reported as conventional unit (%) and International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) unit (mmol/mol) as recommended by international consensus.

See result interpretation section.

The result reflects the average glucose concentration over the life of the red cells although some methods give a falsely high reading if the patient is hyperglycaemic when the blood is collected.

HbA1c levels will be falsely low in patients with increased red blood cells turnover, e.g. pregnancy, recent haemolysis, transfusion, etc. Please exclude these conditions before result interpretation.

This HbA1c method is traceable to both (National Glycoprotein Standardisation Programme) NGSP and IFCC standards and will not be affected by common Hb variants.

The current HbA1c assay is aligned to the method used in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) such that an individual’s risk of developing diabetic complications can be inferred from the result. A new standardised and specific method for measuring HbA1c was developed by IFCC. The units for reporting HbA1c will be changed from non-SI to SI unit and expressed as mmol per mol of haemoglobin which is traceable to the latest IFCC reference method.

A guide to the new values expressed as mmol/mol is:

General targets for HbA1c of 6.5 - 7.5% could be set for an individual, taking into consideration of the patient’s personal risk of hypoglycemia, cardiovascular status and other co-morbidities.  The equivalent values of the DCCT HbA1c targets are 48 - 59 mmol/mol in IFCC units.