Empirically Establishing Blood Glucose Targets to Achieve HbA(1c) Goals

OBJECTIVE: To determine the average fasting, postprandial, and bedtime self-monitored blood glucose (SMBG) concentrations associated with specified HbA(1c) levels using data from the A1c-Derived Average Glucose (ADAG) study. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The ADAG study was a multicenter observational study that used continuous glucose monitoring and SMBG testing to determine the relationship between mean average glucose and HbA(1c). We used the SMBG data from 470 of the ADAG study participants (237 with type 1 diabetes and 147 with type 2 diabetes) to determine the average fasting, premeal, 90-min postmeal, and bedtime blood glucose (BG) for predefined target HbA(1c) groups between 5.5 and 8.5% (37–69 mmol/mol). t Tests were used to compare mean BG values between type 1 and type 2 diabetes groups. RESULTS: The average fasting BG needed to achieve predefined HbA(1c) target levels of 5.5–6.49% (37–47 mmol/mol), 6.5–6.99% (48–52 mmol/mol), 7.0–7.49% (52–58 mmol/mol), 7.5–7.99% (58–64 mmol/mol), and 8.0–8.5% (64–69 mmol/mol) were 122 mg/dL with 95% CI 117–127, 142 mg/dL (135–150), 152 mg/dL (143–162), 167 mg/dL (157–177), and 178 mg/dL (164–192), respectively. Postmeal BG to achieve the HbA(1c) level of 6.5–6.99% (48–52 mmol/mol) and 7.0–7.49% (52–58 mmol/mol) were 139 mg/dL (134–144) and 152 mg/dL (147–157), respectively. Bedtime BG was 153 mg/dL (145–161) and 177 mg/dL (166–188), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We have determined the average BG at premeal, postmeal, and bedtime to achieve a variety of HbA(1c) targets. These results, based on empirical data, will help patients and providers set realistic day-to-day SMBG targets to achieve individualized HbA(1c) goals.