Effect of training on the performance of blood glucose monitoring using a reagent strip (Glucoprofil).

ABSTRACT

A relatively simple, new test-strip for blood-glucose monitoring, the Glucoprofil strip with a reaction-zone of film-foil, was evaluated by testing 100 different blood glucose concentrations between 2.1 and 29.7 mmol/l. The results were obtained visually before and after training to read the color changes of the strip according to the scale on the strip-container. Plasma glucose measurements with the Beckman Glucose-Analyzer were used for reference. The results show that the Glucoprofil-strip readings correlated well with the reference method (r = 0.97), thorough training provided. The mean deviation of the strip results was less than 1 mmol/l. Similar results were obtained using another blood glucose strip, the Haemoglukotest 20-800 R. Our study indicates that the performance of the Glucoprofil strip is satisfactory, and hence the strip may be useful for clinical purposes. Consistent with previous reports we could demonstrate that training improved the reading results of the Glucoprofil strip.