Prevalence and monitoring utility of glycated albumin among diabetic patients attending clinic in tertiary hospitals in Dodoma, Tanzania: A cross-sectional study protocol

Diabetes mellitus is a serious public health concern, with third world nations accounting for 80% of the new cases. Tanzania has a high diabetes burden, with rising prevalence, complications, and death, as well as life-threatening impairments. Diabetic diagnosis and prognosis are currently based on two tests: plasma glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). However, other markers of glucose homeostasis, such as fructosamine and glycated albumin (GA), may be seen as an appealing alternative, especially in patients whose HbA1c test is skewed or incorrect. GA appears to have a higher overall diagnostic efficiency than fructosamine in a variety of clinical contexts. Further research is needed to determine whether GA can complement or replace traditional glycemic control measurements like HbA1c, as GA may aid in the therapeutic management of diabetic individuals whose HbA1c levels are unreliable. MethodA hospital-based cross-sectional analytical study design will be conducted among diabetic patients attending the diabetic clinics of the Dodoma Regional Referral Hospital and Benjamin Mkapa Hospital from 1st August to 30th October, 2023.All patients with a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus for more than 6 months on medication will be screened for eligibility. Informed consent, history and clinical examination will be obtained in all the patients. All patients will be subjected to voluntary blood sample collection and blood samples obtained will be sent for RBG and HbA1c. Simultaneously the Glycated Albumin levels will be obtained from the same blood samples collected. Standard glycemic status of all patients will be defined as per HbA1c. A level greater than 7% will be considered as a poor indicator, hence poor control in patients with more than six months of treatment. A questionnaire containing both open and closed ended questions will also be used in recording the patients response. Analysis including both descriptive and inferential statistics will be computed with SPSS version 28.0. and a predictor variable P<0.05 will be considered as statistically significant.