Assessment of red cell distribution width, glycaemic control and diabetes related complications - the ARDENT Study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of red cell distribution width with glycaemic control and the presence of complications in diabetes patients. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was done at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan, from September to November 2017, and comprised patients with type 2 diabetes. Clinical and demographical characteristics were documented and they were subjected to complete blood count, red cell distribution width, glycated haemoglobin, fasting and random blood glucose, lipid profile, urea and creatinine. The presence of complications were assessed during clinical examination. SPSS 20 was used for data analysis.. RESULTS: There were 349 patients with a mean age of 53.14±11.77 years. The mean duration of diabetes was 8.36±6.64 years and mean glycated haemoglobin was 9.05±1.93. Red cell distribution width was significantly associated with the duration of diabetes, hypertension, macrovascular and microvascular complications and extent of glycaemic control (p<0.0001 each). A statistically significant linear relationship was observed between red cell distribution width and the number of macrovascular and microvascular complications (p<0.0001) and glycated haemoglobin (p<0.0001). Mean red cell distribution width was 13.94±1.66, 14.72±1.38, and 15.76±1.55 for optimal control, borderline control and poor control respectively. This linear incremental pattern was statistic ally significant (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The linear association of red cell distribution width with glycated haemoglobin may enable its use as a measure of the extent of hyperglycaemia.