Impact of Gender and Age in HbA1c Levels among Libyan Adults Without Known Diabetes in Zeletin City, Libya: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

The objective of our study was to examine the correlation between HbA1c levels, gender and age in Libyan adults in Zeletin city who have not been diagnosed with diabetes. In our cross-sectional study, we enrolled a total of 300 participants. Blood samples were collected from each participant and subsequently analyzed to determine their HbA1c levels. Statistical analysis included t-tests, linear regression analysis, and one-way ANOVA. Our results showed a significant positive correlation between HbA1c levels in relation to both age and gender. Furthermore, approximately 58.7% of the individuals had HbA1c levels equal to or exceeding 6.5%, which is commonly used as a threshold for diagnosing diabetes. This indicates that there is a notable occurrence of undiagnosed diabetes within the participants of the study. When examining different age groups, we observed a substantial increase in HbA1c levels with advancing age. Additionally, in the 50-59 and above 60 age groups, males exhibited significantly higher HbA1c levels compared to females (p<0.001). In conclusion, our study validated the previously observed link between elevated HbA1c levels and increasing age in individuals without diabetes. Additionally, our study highlights a high prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes in Zeletin, Libya, suggesting an impending increase in diabetes cases that will pose a significant economic burden on healthcare.