Association Between Forced Expiratory Volume in one Second and Glycated Hemoglobin Values in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Evidence shows that COPD increases the risk of type 2 diabetes possibly due to insulin resistance induced by inflammatory cytokines. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the association between forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and plasma glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level in patients with COPD. In this study, 50 non-hospitalized patients with COPD were studied. For all patients, a spirometry test was performed and FEV1 was determined. The quality of spirometry was assessed based on Guidelines from the American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society Task Force and the severity of COPD was determined based on GOLD criteria. HbA1c was measured by commercial kits. Anthropometric indices were measured and a questionnaire was applied to collect general characteristics of patients. The mean age of patients was 60.18±7.63 years. Seventy-eight percent and 22% of patients were male and female, respectively. Twenty-seven subjects were current smokers and 23 subjects were non-smokers. A significant inverses association was found between HbA1c level and FEV1% in (r= -0.722, P<0.001). There was a statistically significant correlation between weight and HbA1c level (r=0.349, P<0.05), and BMI and HbA1c (r=0.242, P<0.05). We could not find any significant correlation between age and smoking and the level of HbA1c and FEV1 (P>0.05). Our study showed there is a negative correlation between the level of HgA1c and respiratory function in COPD patients.