What is an A1c Test? A Patient Guide

What is A1C?

A1C test results are reported as a percentage. A higher percentage indicates higher blood glucose levels in the past 2 to 3 months.

The A1C blood test is used to diagnose diabetes, plan your diabetes treatment, and monitor how well your treatment is working over time. (source)

A normal A1C level is below 5.7%, a level of 5.7% to 6.4% indicates prediabetes, and a level of 6.5% or more indicates diabetes. (source)

The higher the levels, the greater your risk of developing diabetes complications.

The ADA recommends that the goal for most adults with diabetes is an A1C level of less than 7%. However, there’s no one-size-fits-all target. The individual goal will depend on many things, such as your age and other medical conditions. Consult your doctor to set your own individual A1C goal. (source,source)

Unlike the glucose test, the A1C test does not require fasting before having blood drawn.

The OBM rapid A1c test allows a 5-minute A1C test at home using a fingerstick blood sample, offering laboratory-level accuracy.

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