Glycosylated hemoglobin A1 used in quality-control of diabetes care: a cross-sectional study in an outpatient clinic.

HBA1 was used to evaluate the quality of treatment and regulation in 163 insulin treated diabetes patients. The mean of HBA1 in all patients was 11.2 +/- 2.4%. Only 24% of the patients had HBA1 values below the mean + 3 SD of non diabetics. Patients with high values of HBA1 were controlled and treated more intensively than those with lower or normal values. They were also seen more frequently at the outpatient clinic, their insulin doses were larger, and they took more frequent insulin injections. 63% of the patients practised home monitoring of blood glucose, but they were not better controlled than those, who did not. In some of the patients conspicuous discrepancies were found between high HBA1 percentages and low blood glucose values measured at the outpatient clinic. It is concluded, that home monitoring of blood glucose, frequent visits to an outpatient clinic, and 2 daily insulin injections do not appreciably improve diabetes control, and that other approaches are needed, e.g., greater co-operation by the patients in frequent adjustments of treatment between clinic visits.