Accuracy of blood glucose meters

    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

    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%