A WARD COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ONE TOUCH-II AND GLUCOMETER-II BLOOD-GLUCOSE METERS

A 6-week clinical evaluation of the One Touch 11 blood glucose meter w as performed in a medical ward specializing in diabetic patients and c ompared to the existing Glucometer II system. Nursing staff trained in both methods performed 267 capillary blood glucose measurements using the two meters.A reference capillary blood glucose was performed simu ltaneously on 129 of these occasions using a Yellow Springs Instrument analyser. The One Touch II correlated better with the reference (r = 0.97) than the Glucometer II (r = 0.86) and was equally close or close r to the Yellow Springs Instrument on 82 % of occasions. A greater pro portion of samples measured by the One Touch II were within 15% of the reference value (83 % vs 66 %). There were also 17 cases where the On e Touch II was able to give a measurement which was outwith the analyt ical range of the Glucometer II. A questionnaire revealed the nursing staff unanimously preferred using the One Touch II to their present me ter. It is concluded that in a ward setting the One Touch II meter sho wed improved accuracy, usefulness in its wider analytical range, and a greater user preference in comparison to the Glucometer II.