How Often to Retest
Reviewed by CDE Mehandi Sharma · Updated
Testing intervals change once you have a prediabetes result, and the change is significant.
If your glucose tests are normal, the general recommendation is retesting every three years.
Once you have been told you have prediabetes, that becomes yearly. This is the single most important operational fact in this whole category, and it is the one most often not passed on. A great many people are told they have prediabetes, told to be careful, and never tested again.
Retest sooner than a year if you develop symptoms — real thirst, passing urine frequently, unexplained tiredness or weight loss, or blurred vision — or if you gain significant weight.
What to watch across years is the trend rather than any single value. Three annual HbA1c results of 5.9%, 6.0% and 6.2% describe a direction, and that direction is more actionable than any one of the numbers.
The practical obstacle is that nobody else is tracking this for you. Prediabetes has no clinic, no follow-up appointment and no specialist. So set a recurring annual reminder on your phone, and keep the reports together in one place.
And mention prediabetes to every new doctor you see. It changes what they should be screening you for.