Response to Alleyn etal. Comparison of longitudinal point-of-care and high-performance liquid chromatography HbA1c measurements in a multi-centre trial

摘要

We read with interest the paper by Alleyn et al. [1] and, whilst supporting the view that standardization of HbA_(1c) estimation is required for research purposes, believe this would also be of benefit in clinical practice. In keeping with other studies, the authors set < 5.5 mmol/mol (0.5%) HbA_(1c) as their cut-off for an acceptable difference when comparing anaytical methods. However, in everyday practice, this difference, viewed in these times of performance-related funding, may have a number of clinical and financial implications.