Diagnosis of Diabetes

Diagnosis of Diabetes

While patients may be tested for diabetes due to a variety of reasons, the guidelines suggest the following groups be tested

  • People who are overweight and have one or more risk factors
    • Overweight adults include people with a BMI >25 kg/m
    • Risk factors (link to risk factors tab)
  • People who have signs of high blood sugar (link to HBS tab)
  • People with several risk factors
  • Women who are pregnant

Confirming a Diabetes diagnosis will be based on one of the following lab values:

  • A1c levels of 6.5% or higher indicate diabetes

OR

  • Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) > 126mg/dL

OR

  • 2-hour plasma glucose level of >200mg/dL during an oral glucose tolerance test using glucose load containing the equivalent to 75g of glucose dissolved in water

OR

  • Classic symptoms of hyperglycemia (polyuria, polydipsia, polyphagia) or hyperglycemic crisis, with a random plasma glucose of >200 mg/dL