Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27457636›Full record

ArticleDiabetes care2016

Are There Clinical Implications of Racial Differences in HbA1c? Yes, to Not Consider Can Do Great Harm!

William H Herman

Registry-linked trialOpen access · bronzeAbstract readComment
In one paragraph

Article in Diabetes care, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06837181 (Studying the Presence of CFRD Complications With Thoughtful Recruitment), which is not on this map. Cited by 34 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
34citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
7.4field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT06837181 recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Studying the Presence of CFRD Complications With Thoughtful Recruitment (SPeCTRuM)

TypeobservationalSponsorJaeb Center for Health ResearchRan2025 to 2028Enrolled200ConditionsCystic Fibrosis (CF), Cystic Fibrosis-related Diabetes, Diabetes, RetinopathyArmsobservational study
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

34 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 66 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. American Association of Clinical Endocrinology Clinical Practice Guideline: Developing a Diabetes Mellitus Comprehensive Care Plan-2022 Update.Endocrine practice : official journal of the American College of Endocrinology and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists · 2022
    Guideline
  2. Pooled it
  3. Criteria for prediabetes and posttransplant diabetes mellitus after kidney transplantation: A 2-year diagnostic accuracy study of participants from a randomized controlled trial.American journal of transplantation : official journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons · 2022
    Trial
  4. Trial
  5. Article
  6. Observational
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors and the Risk of Pneumonia and Septic Shock.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2022
    Article
  12. Observational
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. The trials and tribulations of determining HbANature reviews. Endocrinology · 2020
    Review
  18. Review of methods for detecting glycemic disorders.Diabetes research and clinical practice · 2020
    Review
  19. Article
  20. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.

William H HermanDepartment of Internal Medicine and Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI wherman@umich.edu.
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor · US

Funding

Regional Pilot And Feasibility Study Grants ProgramP30DK020572 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI Mehboob A Hussain · 2013 to 2026
$24.3M
Pilot and Feasibility (P and F) ProgramP30DK089503 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI Joyce Lee · 2010 to 2026
$20.3M
Research BaseP30DK092926 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI MARY ELLEN MICHELE HEISLER, ADESUWA B OLOMU · 2011 to 2026
$10.0M
NIDDK NIH HHS P30 DK020572NIDDK NIH HHS P30 DK089503NIDDK NIH HHS P30 DK092926
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Studies that have compared HbA1c levels by race have consistently demonstrated higher HbA1c levels in African Americans than in whites. These racial differences in HbA1c have not been explained by measured differences in glycemia, sociodemographic factors, clinical factors, access to care, or quality of care. Recently, a number of nonglycemic factors and several genetic polymorphisms that operate through nonglycemic mechanisms have been associated with HbA1c Their distributions across racial groups and their impact on hemoglobin glycation need to be systematically explored. Thus, on the basis of evidence for racial differences in HbA1c, current clinical guidelines from the American Diabetes Association state: "It is important to take…race/ethnicity…into consideration when using the A1C to diagnose diabetes." However, it is not clear from the guidelines how this recommendation might be actualized. So, the critical question is not whether racial differences in HbA1c exist between African Americans and whites; the important question is whether the observed differences in HbA1c level are clinically meaningful. Therefore, given the current controversy, we provide a Point-Counterpoint debate on this issue. In the point narrative below, Dr. Herman provides his argument that the failure to acknowledge that HbA1c might be a biased measure of average glycemia and an unwillingness to rigorously investigate this hypothesis will slow scientific progress and has the potential to do great harm. In the counterpoint narrative that follows Dr. Herman's contribution, Dr. Selvin argues that there is no compelling evidence for racial differences in the validity of HbA1c as a measure of hyperglycemia and that race is a poor surrogate for differences in underlying causes of disease risk.-William T. CefaluEditor in Chief, Diabetes Care.

Indexed as

Black or African AmericanWhite PeopleAdultBlood GlucoseBody Mass IndexDiabetes MellitusDietExerciseFemaleGlycated HemoglobinHumansMaleSocioeconomic FactorsBlood GlucoseGlycated Hemoglobin

Identifiers

PMID27457636
PMCPMC4955925
OpenAlexW2491582447

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.