

If you have known diabetes and your HbA1c is 6.5 to 7 per cent (48-53 mmol/mol), your blood glucose control over the last few months would be considered to be good. Your doctor will also want to talk with you about your lifestyle, such as your diet and how much physical activity you usually do. A repeat test is often recommended to confirm the result, especially if you have no symptoms. If you are having an HbA1c test to help diagnose diabetes, a result of 6.5 per cent (48 mmol/mol) or higher is diagnostic of diabetes.

What’s a bad HbA1c result?Ībnormal results (which would be higher than the normal range) indicate a possible diagnosis of diabetes or poor control of diabetes. in units of mmol/mol, which is a newer way of measuring and reporting HbA1c results.Ī normal HbA1c result is between 3.5 to 6 per cent (15-42 mmol/mol).Glycosylated haemoglobin can be measured: The test measures the percentage of haemoglobin that is bound to glucose, which reflects the average blood glucose concentration over last few months. The results should be available within 24 hours. There is no need to fast before the test – you can eat and drink as normal. The blood can be taken by your doctor or at a pathology lab. More recently, HbA1c tests have also been approved to be used in the diagnosis of diabetes. HbA1c testing is used in addition to home blood glucose monitoring (which shows day to day blood sugar highs and lows) to help give a picture of whether your diabetes treatment is effective. A raised HbA1c correlates with an increased risk of developing diabetes complications such as diabetic retinopathy.

Why is this test done?ĭoctors usually recommend that people with diabetes have an HbA1c test about every 3-6 months, as it gives an indication of the overall control of blood glucose levels over the previous 8-12 weeks. That’s because once glucose has attached to haemoglobin in a red blood cell, it stays there for the life of the red blood cell, which is around 3 months. The HbA1c level reflects the average blood glucose levels from the last 3 months or so.
