[Clinical testing of a new blood glucose measuring system. A cooperative study at 8 centers]

The glucometer II system is a small measurement device with built-in batch-specific pressbutton calibration. The corresponding test strip "Glucostix" uses a two-color system. The blood glucose test strip can be evaluated both visually and by instrument. The precision determined in series was between 2.0% and 6.7% using control sera. The day-to-day precision was between 1.5% and 7.9%. Comparison of the methods on the basis of 781 and 109 capillary blood samples respectively revealed a good agreement between the hexokinase method or the glucose oxidase method (Beckman analyser) and the glucometer II values. The precision of measurement by the system was comparable in the two test strip batches employed. Visual reading of the test strips revealed a good agreement with the laboratory method in the hypoglycemic and normoglycemic range; at higher concentrations of blood glucose, a trend to underestimation of the measurement values was shown. The easy handling and small size of the instrument facilitates measurement of blood glucose by the patient under everyday conditions.