Although sometime the results are not as accurate as laboratory A1C tests, at-home A1C tests can still be useful for healthcare providers and diabetics, especially during a global pandemic.
"In a pandemic, having data from an at-home hemoglobin A1C test has value," said Dr. Laura Jacobsen, assistant professor and pediatric endocrinologist at the University of Florida and the study's lead researcher.
"For patients, a blood draw is the most accurate, followed by A1C tests in your doctor's office and at home," Jacobsen said. "However, the [at-home tests] continue to be useful."
How A1C tests are performed
Simply put, A1C tests measure the amount of sugar in your blood. Hemoglobin (Hb) is a protein found inside red blood cells that transports oxygen throughout the body and is responsible for the blood's red color.
When blood sugar levels are high, more sugar binds to hemoglobin, as measured by the A1c test. The A1c test estimates the average amount of glucose in the blood.
Because red blood cells last about three months before being replaced, A1c tests reflect glycemic control for the previous 90 days.
A1C tests at home for underserved populations
"If you have a patient in rural America who doesn't have access to driving to the endocrinologist every three months, we can mail them a kit," Jacobsen explained. "They can do the A1C at home, which helps us determine whether their A1C is 7% or 10%. That is extremely helpful in directing management."
At-home tests may be the best, and sometimes the only, option for many people. "If we're talking about a population that has never been diagnosed, that doesn't have access to primary care, and we can use the tests just to get a general sense of where someone's sugars are - there's huge utility," said by director of Purdue University's Center for Health Equity and Innovation.
In other words, having some data is preferable to having none.
At-home tests offer "a huge opportunity in rural, uninsured, underinsured, immigrant, non-English speaking populations that may not be able to access the health care system for whatever reason," according to the researchers.
https://www.yicare-medical.com/poct/hba1c-analyzer.html