Performance of HbA1c Assays in relation to clinical requirements for its use in diabetes

Abstract

HbA1c is a major test in the medical laboratory because the test result is of conclusive relevance for diagnosis and treatment of diabetes, a high prevalence chronic disease. Therefore, the quality of the test is of utmost clinical importance. The impact of bias and imprecision will be discussed and requirements for diagnosis and monitoring treatment be derived from the IFCC model for quality targets. To demonstrate the present status of HbA1c tests, the outcome of EurA1c, the international PT trial with participation of more than 5000 labs in 20 countries will be shown.

Speaker's biography

Cas Weykamp is a clinical chemist and was director of the MCA laboratory of the Queen Beatrix Hospital in the city of Winterswijk, the Netherlands. A major activity is the standardization of HbA1c. He was network coordinator of the wordwide network of 16 reference laboratories operating the IFCC reference method for HbA1c and member of the IFCC Committee on Education Use of Biomarkers Diabetes. As such he has a close working relation with Garry John. He is also advisor of the NGSP. In the Netherlands he coordinates many EQA programmes on behalf of SKML, the national EQA organiser. One of his major EQA programmes is on HbA1c, his hobby horse and subject of his PhD Study. In general he was active in the field of EQA/PT, Standardization and Harmonization as member of the IFCC Task Force for Proficiency Testing and the IFCC Working Groups on Commutability and CDT. In the AACC he served as chair of the task force to develop tools for the AACC Harmonization Initiative. He is speaker at many international scientific meetings. For a review of his publications please see www.pubmed.com under Weykamp C.