Hemoglobin A1c Testing and Amputation Rates in Black, Hispanic, and White Medicare Patients

Annals of Vascular Surgery
Suckow BD, Newhall KA, Bekelis K, Faerber AE, Gottlieb DJ, Skinner JS

Major (above-knee or below-knee) amputation is a complication of diabetes and is seen more common among black and Hispanic patients. While amputation rates have declined for patients with diabetes in the last decade, it remains unknown if these improvements have equitably extended across racial groups and if measures of diabetic care, such as hemoglobin A1c testing, are associated with these improvements. We set out to characterize secular changes in amputation rates among black, Hispanic, and white patients, and to determine associations between hemoglobin A1c testing and amputation risk.