Laboratory assessment of three glucometers

Abstract

The study was designed to assess the technical performance of three common glucometers (Glucomcter Elite, Accutrend Alpha, One Touch Basic) marketed in Nigeria. This is with a view to assessing their suitability for use in this environment and to provide an informed opinion on the selection option. Venous blood, capillary blood, scrum and plasma were assayed during the study. Precision, accuracy, linearity and effect of haemolysis and haematocrit were carried out on each glucometer. Simultaneous analysis using the laboratory reference method was also carried out where necessary. Intra-assay precision was between 1.4%(Glucometer Elite) - 11% (One Touch Basic) while the intcrassay precision was best for the Accutrcnd Alpha with a CV of 1.9%. All three glucometers correlated excellently with laboratory values and the %deviation from laboratory values wa s 0.2-10.5%. T h e Glucometer Elite was the most portable and used the least volume of blood (5ul). O n e Touch Basic Glucometer was the least affected by haemolysis. Haematocrit values less than 50% did not have any effect on the three glucometer readings. The technical performance of these three glucometers were found to be acceptable and are recommended for use by diabetic patients, emergency and intensive care units and antenatal clinics, subject to periodic assessment and calibration.