Relative contributions of fasting and postprandial glucose increments, glycemic variability, and non‐glycemic factors to HbA1c in individuals with type 1 diabetes

AIM: Evidence for contribution of basal and postprandial glucose increment, and glycemic variability to glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) among adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) is limited. This study aimed to capture glycemic fluctuation patterns and quantify contributions of these factors to HbA1c levels among adults with T1D. METHODS: HbA1c, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), and diet diaries were collected and pooled from two clinical trials. Available data sets were divided into HbA1c quartiles: group 1 (≤6.7%), group 2 (6.7%–7.3%), group 3 (7.3%–7.8%), and group 4 (≥7.8%). Area under curve above 110 mg/dL (AUC(>110mg/dL)) in 24‐h profile was defined as overall hyperglycemia and stratified with postprandial hyperglycemia (PHG, AUC(>110mg/dL) in 3‐h period after meals) and basal hyperglycemia (BHG, AUC(>110mg/dL) in remaining period). Linear regression analysis was used to estimate the proportion of variance in HbA1c explained by BHG, preprandial glucose, PHG, glycemic variability, and non‐glycemic factors (age, body mass index, hemoglobin, and duration). RESULTS: A total of 169 550 glucose data in 2409 meals recorded from 102 patients (male/female, 34/68) were included. Age and duration were 35.2 ± 12.6 and 8.9 (2.9, 13.0) years, with 51.0% using pumps. Overall, BHG was four times higher than PHG (p all <.05) and between‐group comparisons showed BHG exhibited a progressive increase (group 1 vs. 2, 3, 4, p = .053, .086, .006) with fasting contribution of 76.1%, 82.6%, 81.5%, and 84.3% from group 1 to 4. The increment was not significant among groups 2, 3, and 4 (p > .05). Factors included in analysis explained a total of 74% of the variance in HbA1c, in which BHG accounted for 32.1% of variance whereas PHG accounted for 24.4%. In group with HbA1c >7.3%, BHG accounted for a higher percentage with 33.8% of the variance in HbA1c. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, basal hyperglycemia better predicts overall glycemic control than postprandial hyperglycemia among adults with T1D. The relative contribution of basal hyperglycemia increased gradually with HbA1c increasing and predominant strategy for insulin titration among T1D is different among different levels of glycemic control.