Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Diabetes remains a major health problem, and Glycated hemoglobin (HBA1c) and fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels play important roles in its management. Also, chronic hyperglycemia coupled with high HBA1c levels impact inflammation and may alter haematological parameters in diabetes. Hence, the need to assess and correlate HBA1c and FBG levels with selected haematological parameters in patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus as the main objective of this study. The study was cross-sectional involving 384 participants. Five milliliters of blood was collected from each participant and analyzed for HBA1c, FBG levels and full blood count which were correlated statistically. RESULTS: From the data obtained and analyzed, there were statistically significant correlations between HBA1c and neutrophil count (p < 0.013), plateletcrit (p < 0.036), mean platelet volume (p < 0.019) and platelet distribution width (p < 0.002). There were also significant differences in FBG (p < 0.014), neutrophil count (p < 0.029), red cell distribution width (p < 0.046), mean platelet volume (p < 0.032) and platelet distribution width (p < 0.013) between diabetes patients with HBA1c less than 7.0% and HBA1c more than or equal to 7.0%. The outcome of the study indicates significant correlation of HBA1c with selected haematological parameters. This could make routine haematological parameters a cost-effective means of predicting poor glucose control in diabetes mellitus patients.