Fructosamine in diabetes screening of the elderly.

The use of serum fructosamine in diabetes detection was investigated during a diabetes survey performed with a modified oral glucose tolerance test (MOGTT) on 742 residents of the Melton Mowbray area aged between 65 and 85 years. Subjects were tested in the morning and remained at rest. MOGTT results were classified by WHO criteria. The fructosamine concentration was measured in a random sub-group of 264 normal subjects and had a Gaussian distribution (mean = 1.67 mmol/L, SD = 0.126 mmol/L). In the survey as a whole 25 new diabetics were found of which 23 had fructosamine measured; 17 had values above the 95th percentile and four more had values above the 90th percentile. We have found fructosamine concentration to be a useful screen for diabetes but this may be dependent upon the standardized sampling procedure used, and the population studied.