Should screening voluntary blood donors be used as strategy to diagnose diabetes and diabetic nephropathy?

INTRODUCTION AND AIM: The present study aims to assess the glycemic status during voluntary blood donation as a strategy to detect undiagnosed diabetes mellitus and diabetic nephropathy. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital and medical college. All voluntary blood donors underwent random capillary blood glucose screening and patients who had random blood sugar exceeding 200 mg/dl were subjected to undergo oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The subjects thus detected diabetic by capillary blood sugar and OGTT underwent screening diabetic kidney disease with urine albumin to creatnine ratio (UACR). Data collected was statistically analyzed using SPSS 16 using Student's t test. RESULTS: Seven hundred and sixty five males and 443 females were enrolled for the study. Capillary blood sugar of 54 subjects was ≥200 mg/dl. 48 subjects gave consent for OGTT, stratified data showed 22 subjects (12 males and 10 females) were in range of 200–300 mg/dl. 20 subjects (12 males and 8 females) were in range of 300–400 mg/dl, whereas 6 subjects (5 males and 1 female) had blood sugar more than 400 mg/dl. The HbA1C ranges in respective glycemic groups were 200–300 mg/dl – 7.4% to 8.6% (mean – 8.05%), 300–400 mg/dl – 8.7% to 11.8% (mean 9.63%), more than 400 mg/dl – 11.8% to 14.2% (mean – 13%). Male preponderance was observed in all glycemic groups, though the difference was statistically insignificant. Of the 48 diabetic subjects, 13 (27.08%) were detected to have albuminuria, of these 11 (22.91%) had microalbuminuria (UACR 30 – 300 mg/gm), whereas 2 (4.16%) had overt proteinuria (UACR exceeding 300 mg/gm). CONCLUSION: Glycemic screening with random capillary blood glucose screening, 75 gm 2 hour OGTT and HbA1C amongst voluntary blood donors can be used to detect pre diabetes and undiagnosed diabetes mellitus and diabetic nephropathy.