Resumen
Diabetes mellitus accelerates atherosclerosis. Monitoring arterial condition promises to be an advantage in the detection of any abnormalities. In this study, the characteristics of analysis by photoplethysmogram (PPG) were investigated non-invasively among diabetic patients. An area under the curve (auc-PPG) was compared for two levels of HbA1c, namely HbA1c < 8% (Group 1) and HbA1c > 10% (Group 2). Auc-PPG was found to be significantly higher among diabetic subjects with HbA1c<8% than among those with HbA1c > 10%. Further analysis was performed to investigate the effect of age on auc-PPG. The mean values of auc-PPG were still significantly higher among diabetic patients with HbA1c < 8% than among those with HbA1c > 10%. These results show that the auc-PPG method could be a parameter in determining the arterial stiffness in relation to the level of HbA1c.