Community-based HbA1c testing programme for early detection of undiagnosed diabetes in community pharmacy.

This article focuses on a community-based walk-in HbA1c testing programme for diabetes mellitus (DM) detection implemented by the Mihara Pharmacy Association in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, in collaboration with the local government. The programme, targeting residents aged 40–74 years eligible for the national Specific Health Checkup and Guidance (SHCG) programme, used fingertip blood sampling in community pharmacies to identify undiagnosed DM cases, especially among those who had not participated in routine health checkups. Analysis of data from 2016 to 2018 showed that approximately 24% of eligible participants who had not accessed SHCG had HbA1c levels indicating risk for DM (≥5.6%), with 2.7% requiring immediate medical consultation (HbA1c ≥6.5%). The study suggests that wider adoption of such pharmacy-based testing could enhance early detection and management of DM, utilizing community resources effectively.