When I was first diagnosed, my doctor prescribed a meter and test strips and told me to test twice a day,
first thing in the morning and two hours after a meal. I soon realized that for the after-a-meal reading
to have any meaning, I needed to also write down what I ate, so I did. Looking at the results, I noticed
that I was getting widely differing numbers from the same meal. To test the meter, I took 6 readings
in a row, less than one minute apart. There was a 30-point difference between the highest and lowest numbers!
I showed the results to my doctor but he had no comment. I realized later that he really didn't know
anything about the meters. I researched online and found that the FDA requirement for home glucose meters
is plus or minus 20% - this means that if my current value is 150, then a meter reading anywhere from 120 to
180 is considered "accurate" by the FDA. These are the numbers I'm supposed to use to determine what is
okay for me to eat? They're worthless!
I continued my research and found a study on meter accuracy, done in Europe in 2010 and published on the website of the American association of Diabetes Educators: http://www.diabeteseducator.org/export/sites/aade/_resources/pdf/research/Practice_Advisory_BGM_FINAL.pdf
The same results are at: http://community.diabetes.org/t5/Adults-Living-with-Type-2/Blood-Glucose-Meter-Accuracy-Comparison-Chart/td-p/384172
I copied the results into Excel, added a total column, and sorted them so that the best meters are at the top.
Below is the resulting chart. I bought the meter at the top of the list; when I repeated my experiment where I took six readings in a row, the difference between the highest and lowest was only 8 points, a definite improvement.
|
|
Within |
Within |
Within |
Within |
Within |
Within |
|
|
15% |
10% |
5% |
15% |
10% |
5% |
|
|
Under |
Under |
Under |
Over |
Over |
Over |
|
Meter |
100
mg |
100
mg |
100
mg |
100
mg |
100
mg |
100
mg |
|
FreeStyle Freedom Lite (586) |
100% |
100% |
98% |
100% |
98% |
90% |
|
FreeStyle Lite (583) |
100% |
100% |
93% |
100% |
100% |
86% |
|
Accu-Chek Go |
100% |
100% |
94% |
100% |
96% |
79% |
|
Accu-Chek Performa Nano |
100% |
98% |
87% |
100% |
96% |
64% |
|
Accu-Chek Nano |
100% |
96% |
80% |
99% |
95% |
65% |
|
Accu-Chek Mobile (maltose dependent) |
98% |
98% |
73% |
100% |
96% |
66% |
|
Accu-Chek Mobile (maltose independent) |
100% |
98% |
71% |
100% |
94% |
66% |
|
Accu-Chek Performa (maltose independent)
|
98% |
97% |
78% |
98% |
92% |
66% |
|
Accu-Chek Performa (maltose dependent) |
100% |
95% |
72% |
99% |
94% |
68% |
|
BGStar |
98% |
92% |
80% |
97% |
87% |
62% |
|
OneTouch VITA |
98% |
93% |
72% |
99% |
87% |
50% |
|
Gluco-test Plus+ TD-4230 |
96% |
94% |
76% |
95% |
79% |
42% |
|
microdot+ |
98% |
95% |
62% |
94% |
83% |
43% |
|
OneTouch Verio |
97% |
78% |
40% |
100% |
95% |
64% |
|
iXell |
100% |
98% |
68% |
89% |
75% |
38% |
|
Omnitest 3 |
94% |
86% |
64% |
91% |
79% |
48% |
|
Beurer GL40 |
98% |
90% |
52% |
95% |
78% |
42% |
|
smartLAB global |
91% |
85% |
57% |
93% |
79% |
48% |
|
iXell OLED |
97% |
85% |
52% |
97% |
79% |
39% |
|
GlucoCheck Comfort |
96% |
86% |
56% |
95% |
74% |
41% |
|
Pura |
100% |
95% |
48% |
100% |
74% |
30% |
|
GlucoCheck XL |
97% |
92% |
58% |
88% |
65% |
40% |
|
iBGStar |
96% |
90% |
52% |
90% |
72% |
35% |
|
WaveSense Jazz |
100% |
75% |
38% |
95% |
80% |
47% |
|
Beurer GL32 |
85% |
62% |
40% |
99% |
91% |
56% |
|
GlucoCheck Classic |
97% |
84% |
55% |
85% |
66% |
38% |
|
iDia |
96% |
80% |
47% |
90% |
71% |
40% |
|
smartLAB genie |
84% |
52% |
23% |
98% |
87% |
57% |
|
Bayer Contour usb |
90% |
69% |
45% |
91% |
68% |
34% |
|
GlucoTel |
89% |
70% |
33% |
92% |
72% |
41% |
|
Element |
90% |
79% |
48% |
83% |
64% |
30% |
|
Biocheck TD-4225 |
76% |
52% |
22% |
97% |
80% |
49% |
|
OneTouch Verio Pro |
88% |
53% |
21% |
93% |
75% |
40% |
|
IME-DC Fidelity |
72% |
43% |
18% |
94% |
85% |
48% |
|
Futura Monometer |
90% |
68% |
27% |
79% |
59% |
26% |
|
GlucoSmart Swing |
84% |
53% |
15% |
94% |
67% |
33% |
|
Wellion CALLA Light |
68% |
33% |
13% |
89% |
73% |
52% |
|
GlucoRx (TD-4230) |
83% |
41% |
14% |
65% |
40% |
14% |
|
Glucohexal II |
50% |
21% |
7% |
80% |
64% |
32% |
|
SeniorLine GM210 |
15% |
0% |
0% |
79% |
55% |
29% |