ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this project was to compare an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) partly performed in the patient's home (OGTTh) with a clinic-obtained OGTT with regard to the ability of the tests to identify patients with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM-2). DESIGN: A method comparison. SETTING: The study was completed at two primary health care centres. SUBJECTS: Fifty-one patients with hypertension aged 50-79 years completed both OGTT tests. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Values for capillary P-glucose obtained two hours after a glucose load were compared between the two OGTT tests. Fasting plasma glucose (fP-glucose) and HbA1c were also measured. RESULTS: Thirty-seven patients were classified in the same group (normal/IGT/DM-2) by the two tests. The index of validity based on the test's ability to identify normal or pathological values (≥ 8.9 mmol/l) was 0.75. The value for kappa was 0.66 with a sensitivity of 0.54 and a specificity of 0.82. CONCLUSION: OGTTh may be a useful screening method for IGT in risk groups such as hypertensive patients.
