IRON DEFICIENCY ANEMIA; CHALLENGES THE DIAGNOSTIC AND PROGNOSTIC EFFICACY OF HBA1C IN DIABETES MELLITUS

Objective: To find out the effect of iron deficiency anemia HbA1c levels in female patients with and without diabetes by comparing its values in groups. Study Design: Comparative cross-sectional study Place and Duration of Study: Physiology department, Al-Nafees Medical College and Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, from Jan 2017 to Dec 2018. Methodology: Study Participants were divided into four groups. Control group A, had females without diabetes and iron deficiency anemia whereas group B had anemic females without diabetes. Study subjects of groups C were having diabetes with anemia where group D females were with diabetes and without iron deficiency anemia. Values of HbA1c were compared in anemic and non-anemic groups, in females with and without diabetes by applying ANOVA and Post Hoc Tukey’s Test. Haemoglobin levels, HbA1c, erythrocyte indices and fasting blood glucose (FBG) were measured. Results: One hundred and forty adult females with and without diabetes were selected in the study. Significant p values were obtained when HbA1c levels of patients with anemia were compared with those without anemia in nondiabetics (p-value