Glucometers have become a fundamental tool in measuring and monitoring glucose level, both in healthcare institutions and home care. The accuracy of glucometers conditions the quality of diabetic patients’ management and is associated to the occurrence of over or under treating accidents due to inaccurate readings.This study assessed the accuracy of five commercially available glucometers by reference to laboratory venous plasma glucose measurement
A cross-sectional study conducted among diabetic patients attending King Abdulaziz Medical City laboratory. All participants underwent venipuncture regarding laboratory PG, simultaneously with capillary blood sampling, on which capillary glucose (CG) was measured using glucometers AccuCheck®, OneTouch®, Freestyle optium neo®, Contour Next®, and Contour Next One® in random order. All glucometers were adequately calibrated and verified according to American diabetes association prior to use.
A total 203 patients were included, with mean (SD) PG= 155.22 (64.88) mg/dL. The coefficient of variation (CV) of the meters ranged from 37.79% to 41.80%. Mean (SD) CGs ranged between 153.01 (57.82) and 163.00 (64.52) depending on the glucometer. Three meters showed negative bias. Mean difference was 2.20 for AccuCheck, -2.26 for One Touch, 0.90 for Freestyle, -2.08 for Contour Next and -7.78 for Contour Next One. Bias percentage ranged between -5.01 and 1.42. Bland-Altman plots showed proportional bias .
Of all glucometers, Freestyle optium neo showed the minimal mean bias, while Contour next one ®showed the highest proportional bias. However, all of them were within 5% difference. High blood glucose readings above 200 mg/dl should be confirmed by venous measurement