You are absolutely correct– I too would love to see a more reliable blood glucose meter. I have found (with a number of different, insurance-subsidized LifeScan meters) that point-in-time measurements can vary widely; I’ve seen measurements of 220 and 140 within seconds of each other, with a third measurement somewhere in between.

Clearly there are several complications involved in accurate measurements– admittedly, sometimes the fault is mine; I can only assume the most extremely off-base measurements must often be due to food residue, lotion, etc. on my hands. But I would be very interested to know, and to see studies of, variation independent of user error. Do you know of any?

Additionally, I have heard that meters are less accurate at the ends of the spectrum as well (that is, when blood sugars are very low or very high). Does this align with your experience? Do you (or your readers, or LifeScan, Roche, Bayer, Abbott, et al) know what causes the inaccuracy?

I am enjoying your wish list on A Sweet Life. The difference between clinical results and real work are very different. In the real world, I do not wash my hands before testing, I may have hand lotion on, etc. But even if we lived in a clinical bubble, the accuracy is still not that good. I am still trying to find infomation from the meter companies why the variance in the numbers exists — the machine, the test strips, the air? If a scientist (or PR rep for that matter) wants to chim in — it would be much appreciated.

In my personal experience the %-variance does get a little wider if you are looking at higher or lower numbers.

-Cary

http://asweetlife.org/karmel/blogs/type-1-blogs/my-diabetic-wish-list/5383/

From the options on your survey and the topic in question, it looks like we are on the same page as to where glucometers need to go in the future. Smaller is better, more features are welcomed. But if it was the same machine we’ve been using for the past 5-10 years, just more accurate — that would be huge!

-Cary

Would be so kind as to complete this brief and confidential survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/bloodglucosemeters on how you select and use home blood glucose meters and ask your friends, relatives and others you know who have diabetes and use meters to do the same, I would sincerely appreciate it. It’s to be used to present data at that FDA/CDRH meeting. Thank you so very much. . I am trying to gather data from patients with all types of diabetes: Type 1, type 1.5, LADA, type 2, gestational, monogenic…. It should take less than 10 minutes to complete.

All the best,
Ellen

You are absolutely correct– I too would love to see a more reliable blood glucose meter. I have found (with a number of different, insurance-subsidized LifeScan meters) that point-in-time measurements can vary widely; I’ve seen measurements of 220 and 140 within seconds of each other, with a third measurement somewhere in between.

Clearly there are several complications involved in accurate measurements– admittedly, sometimes the fault is mine; I can only assume the most extremely off-base measurements must often be due to food residue, lotion, etc. on my hands. But I would be very interested to know, and to see studies of, variation independent of user error. Do you know of any?

Additionally, I have heard that meters are less accurate at the ends of the spectrum as well (that is, when blood sugars are very low or very high). Does this align with your experience? Do you (or your readers, or LifeScan, Roche, Bayer, Abbott, et al) know what causes the inaccuracy?