Is the test done in a doctors office by a finger prick with instant results as accurate as a lab where they draw blood from your arm?
It really depends on the machine. If it was the A1c now you might not have gotten a very accurate reading. The NGSP monitors machines and labs that do the A1c. Most machines are quite accurate. So it really depends.
ps. I once had a reading from the A1cNow that was 0.8% higher than a “gold standard” DCA Vantage test taken at the same time.
Is DCA Vantage a quick test done in the office?
Yes, the DCA Vantage is what they call a point of care machine. It is much bigger and slower than the A1cNow. It weighs 20 lbs and takes 6 minutes to do an A1c, but it is extremely accurate (basically as good as a lab). The A1cNow is much smaller but still takes 5 minutes.
The other thing is that the A1cNow has interferences whereas the DCA Vantage is rock solid. NGSP lists the interferences for both machines. In particular if your blood has certain variants the A1cNow will have systematic errors. These variants occur in people with sickle cell traits and people of people of african, mediterranean, or southeast asian heritage.
A1cNow
DCA Vantage
I think Siemens also makes one of these.
I’ve posted my A1C in here before and people have thought that it was worse than it actually was. My endo uses the low scale one, if that makes any sense. For example an A1C of 7.0 on some tests is like 170 but for his it is 154 ish.