Witold Rongies, Monika Wolska, Katarzyna StrzaÅka-Goc, Bartosz SÅomka, PrzemysÅaw KrasnodÄbski, WÅodzimierz Dolecki, Krzysztof Dembe
Background: Due to its significant prevalence, incidence, and economic burden, type 2 diabetes mellitus has been the subject of a number of economic analyses and epidemiological studies. It is believed that it may take as many as 12 years from the onset of the first sign of type 2 diabetes mellitus to the time of diagnosis. Thus, there is a potential benefit in conducting screening tests in the interim to help detect prediabetes before type 2 diabetes mellitus fully develops. Objective: To assess the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in a randomly selected group of healthcare professionals employed at one of Warsaw hospitals by measuring glycated hemoglobin levels with the A1cNow+ test. Materials and methods: The study included 465 employees of the Independent Public Central Hospital in Warsaw. The selection of healthcare professionals for the study was random. Inclusion criteria: healthcare professionals employed at the Independent Public Central Hospital in Warsaw; no awareness of having type 2 diabetes mellitus. The largest study subgroup (63.4%) were nurses, followed by physicians 13.5%, physiotherapists (10.3%), and orderlies (6.6%). All subjects underwent glycated hemoglobin level measurement with the Bayer A1cNow+ system. The statistical analysis was conducted with Statistica 10.0. Apart from this, Mann-Whitney’s U test, Kruskal-Wallis’s test (post hoc Dunn’s test), Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and test for significance. The adopted significance level was α=0.05. Results: The study group was evaluated for metabolic disturbances (expressed in the form of HbA1c levels) with an American Diabetes Association-approved classification. The results indicated that a vast majority of the evaluated healthcare personnel (383 people; 82.4%) had normal glycated hemoglobin levels. The remainder of the study group showed carbohydrate metabolism disturbances. The range of glycated hemoglobin levels (5.7–6.4%) found in 73 people (15.7%) suggested an increased risk for diabetes. As a result of the study, as few, or as many, as 9 people (1.9%) were diagnosed with diabetes (initial diagnosis). Conclusions: Most of the evaluated healthcare professionals (82.4%) showed no evidence of being at risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Only 17.6% of respondents were unaware of their metabolic disturbances. The study demonstrated a positive correlation between body mass index values and glycated hemoglobin levels in the evaluated group of healthcare professionals (R=0.3), which was similar to that found in the general population.