Glycated Hemoglobin, Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Risk in Nondiabetic Adults

Fasting glucose is the standard measure used to diagnose diabetes in the United States. Recently, glycated hemoglobin was also recommended for this purpose.

We compared the prognostic value of glycated hemoglobin and fasting glucose for identifying adults at risk for diabetes or cardiovascular disease. We measured glycated hemoglobin in whole-blood samples from 11,092 black or white adults who did not have a history of diabetes or cardiovascular disease and who attended the second visit (occurring in the 1990-1992 period) of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study.