If a patient with diabetes is at goal on A1C testing, how often is testing typically performed?

• A. Every 6 months.
• B. Every 3 months.
• C. Every 12 months.
• D. Only at diagnosis.

Answer: (A)

Once a patient with diabetes has achieved and stays at goal on A1C testing, monitoring is spaced out to every six months. The A1C reflects average blood glucose over roughly the past three months, so if control is stable, checking it twice a year is enough to confirm continued control without unnecessary testing. Testing more often, every three months, is used when the patient isn’t at goal or when therapy has changed and needs close follow-up. Testing only once a year would be too infrequent to detect a drift in control, and testing only at diagnosis wouldn’t provide ongoing verification of maintenance. So the typical interval for someone at goal is every six months.