Portable blood glucose monitors

Portable blood glucose monitors (BGMs) play a critical role in diabetes management both in the hospital and in the home. ECRI previously evaluated BGMs in February 1992 (Health Devices 21[2]) and March 1994 (Health Devices 23[3]). For the current Evaluation, we tested 10 BGMs, rating them as appropriate for home and/or hospital use. In addition, we report updated ratings and rankings for 6 units originally evaluated in our March 1994 study. While we do not repeat results for the previously evaluated units, we do include those units in their new rating and ranking order in the Conclusions and in the Major Selection Factors table. (Because our rating and ranking scheme has been revised, we have also revised our judgments for some of the previously evaluated units.) Although all units had good or excellent accuracy and repeatability, we did find significant differences in other areas. For home use, we considered repeatability, the ease of cleaning the test area, and the ease of obtaining a reading to be the most important criteria. For hospital use, we judged units on the same criteria, as well as on the effect of hematocrit on readings and on the protection from cross-contamination between patients and between the unit and the user. This Evaluation is directed at clinicians, diabetes educators, emergency medical technicians, monitor manufacturers and suppliers, pharmacies, and individual users and their caregivers. We caution readers not to base selection or purchasing decisions on our ratings and rankings alone, but on a thorough understanding of the issues underlying our conclusions, which can be gained only by reading this Evaluation in its entirety. Readers should also consult the March 1994 issue of Health Devices for information about and our findings for units still available but not evaluated in this study.