An adolescent patient recently attended a health fair and had a serum glucose test. The patient telephones the nurse and says, "My level was 125. Does that mean I have diabetes?"

Question

Choose the nurse's most accurate response.
a. "Unless you were fasting for longer than 8 hours, this does not necessarily mean you have diabetes."
b. "At this level, you probably have diabetes. You will need an oral glucose tolerance test this week."
c. "This level is conclusive evidence that you have diabetes."
d. "This level is conclusive evidence that you do not have diabetes."

Answer 1

ANS: A
If a person has not fasted for 8 hours, a blood sugar level of 125 would be considered normal, because it is less than 200 for a random sampling. Also, a person must have positive outcomes on 2 separate days to be diagnosed with diabetes.
This patient does not need to have an oral glucose tolerance test, because the 125 reading is so far below 200, which would require further workup.
No conclusive evidence indicates that this patient has diabetes, because her random sample is so low, and she has not had two separate tests on different days. However, this also is not conclusive evidence that she does not have diabetes.