Jl. Parkes et al., A new consensus error grid to evaluate the clinical significance of inaccuracies in the measurement of blood glucose, DIABET CARE, 23(8), 2000, pp. 1143-1148
OBJECTIVE - The objectives of this study were 1) to construct new error gri
ds (EGs) for blood glucose (BG) self-monitoring by using the expertise of a
large panel of clinicians and 2) to use the new EGs to evaluate the accura
cy of BG measurements made by patients.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - To construct new EGs for type 1 and type 2 di
abetic patients, a total of 100 experts of diabetes were asked to assign an
y error in BG measurement to 1 of 5 risk categories. We used these EGs to e
valuate the accuracy of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) levels in 1
52 diabetic patients. The SMBG data were used to compare the new type 1 dia
betes EG with a traditional EG.
RESULTS - Both the type 1 and type 2 diabetes EGs divide the risk plane int
o 8 concentric zones with no discontinuities. The new EGs are similar to ea
ch other, but they differ from the traditional EG in several significant wa
ys. When used to evaluate a data set of measurements made by a sample of pa
tients experienced in SMBG, the new type 1 diabetes EG rated 98.6% of their
measurements as clinically acceptable, compared with 95% for the tradition
al EG.
CONCLUSIONS - The consensus EGs furnish a new tool for evaluating errors in
the measurement of BG for patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.