Correlation of Glucose Tolerance Disorders with Glycated Albumin and HbA1c in Transfusion‑Dependent Children with Beta Thalassemia

Abstract

This analytical cross-sectional study evaluated the correlation between glycated albumin (GA) and HbA1c in detecting glucose tolerance disorders among transfusion-dependent children with beta-thalassaemia major. The study was conducted at Ulin Regional General Hospital, Banjarmasin, and included 35 eligible paediatric patients with confirmed beta-thalassaemia major who were receiving regular transfusions after applying predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Laboratory parameters included GA, HbA1c, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), serum ferritin and albumin levels. Statistical analysis was performed after normality testing, and Pearson correlation tests were used to examine the relationships between GA and HbA1c, FPG, OGTT and ferritin levels. The results showed a moderate positive correlation between GA and HbA1c (r = 0.557, p = 0.001), indicating that higher GA values were associated with higher HbA1c values. A significant positive correlation was also observed between GA and OGTT results (r = 0.402, p = 0.017). However, GA was not significantly correlated with FPG (r = -0.035, p = 0.840) or serum ferritin levels (r = -0.073, p = 0.677). These findings suggest that GA correlates with HbA1c and may serve as a supportive biomarker for assessing glucose metabolism abnormalities in transfusion-dependent children with beta-thalassaemia, particularly when HbA1c interpretation is limited by altered red blood cell turnover. Nevertheless, GA did not show a significant association with ferritin or fasting glucose parameters in this cohort, and its interpretation should remain complementary to OGTT and clinical evaluation.