Point-of-care testing of HbA1c levels in community settings for people with established diabetes or people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Introduction Diabetes mellitus has increased in prevalence worldwide and is causing an increasing burden on health services. The best patient outcomes occur with early diagnosis to prevent health complications. Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) is used to assess glycaemic control over 3–6 months and inform clinical management. Point-of-care (POC) HbA1c devices can be used in community settings, independent of clinical laboratories. This review aims to evaluate how these devices have been implemented in community settings and what patient outcomes have been documented. Methods and analysis This protocol follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guidance. A systematic search was undertaken in October 2022, using the defined PICOS (population, intervention, comparison, outcomes, study type) statement to identify all relevant articles: CINAHL, Cochrane, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science were searched (updated February 2023). Studies will be included if they report outcomes of community POC testing for HbA1c for people with diabetes or at risk of diabetes. We will review the PROSPERO database and trial registers. Title, abstract screening and full-text review will be carried out by two reviewers. The Cochrane risk-of-bias tool will be used to assess randomised studies and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Quality Assessment tool for observational cohort and cross-sectional studies. Publication bias will be assessed visually with a funnel...
Source: BMJ Open - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Open access, Diabetes and Endocrinology Source Type: research