Utility and Limitations of Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis as Compared with Oral Glucose Tolerance Test for Diagnosis of Diabetes

INTRODUCTION: To study the utility of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in the diagnosis of diabetes in patients with cirrhosis as compared to the gold standard oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and to see the effect of anemia and severity of cirrhosis on its performance. METHODS: Individuals (n = 100) with an established diagnosis of liver cirrhosis were recruited. The OGTT was performed as described by the World Health Organization (WHO). The severity of cirrhosis was calculated using the Child–Turcotte–Pugh (CTP) score. The severity of anemia was defined according to WHO criteria. The utility of HbA1c was compared against the OGTT results. Test sensitivity and specificity were used to describe the diagnostic accuracy of HbA1c. RESULTS: A total of 100 subjects aged 46.9 ± 9.1 years (mean ± standard deviation) participated in the study, of whom 65% were recruited from out patient department of our hospital. The overall sensitivity and specificity of a HbA1c level of ≥ 6.5% for the diagnosis of diabetes in patients with cirrhosis was 77.1% (95% CI 59.9, 89.6) and 90.8% (95% CI 81.0, 96.5), respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 81.8% (95% CI 67.3, 90.8) and 88.1% (95% CI 80.0, 93.2), respectively. The area under the curve was 0.85 (95% CI 0.75–0.94). The sensitivity of HbA1c for diagnosing diabetes in outpatients was 87.0% (95% CI 66.4, 97.2) and was better than that for diagnosing diabetes in hospitalized patients (58.3%; 95% CI 27.7, 84.8). The sensitivity of HbA1c for diagnosing diabetes was poor in patients with moderate to severe anemia. The difference in sensitivity and specificity was not statistically different for CTP classes A, B and C. The prevalence of diabetes as defined by American Diabetes Association OGTT criteria was 35% (95% CI 25.7–45.2%). CONCLUSIONS: Taking OGTT as the gold standard, the sensitivity of HbA1c for diagnosing diabetes is good when used in outpatients with cirrhosis. However, the sensitivity of HbA1c decreases when it is used for hospitalized patients, suggesting that it is not a good test for diagnosis of diabetes in such cases. It also performs poorly if the patient has moderate to severe anemia.