HbA1c measurement is currently routinely used to predict long term outcome of diabetes, thus playing a fundamental role in the management of diabetes. The relationship between HbA1c value and long term diabetic complications has been established by a randomised control Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) which used high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as a reference method for HbA1c assay. To ensure that HbA1c results from a variety HbA1c assay methods are similar to the DCCT values, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommended that all laboratories should use methods certified by the National Glycohemoglobin Standardization Programme (NGSP) with interassay coefficient variation (CV) of < 5% (ideally < 3%). The International Federation of Clinical Chemistry (IFCC) working group on HbA1c standardisation has set a CV < 2.5% as a criteria for its reference laboratories.
* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.