Comparative assessment of three commonly used point-of-care glucometers with the Hexokinase Reference method

Abstract

Background: Blood glucose is traditionally measured in the laboratory but nowadays, there are point-of-care glucometers which can give instant results.  However, the accuracy and reliability of these glucometer readings are of utmost concern. This study sought to compare the accuracy of three glucometer  readings with that of a standard laboratory hexokinase reference method.

Methods: Blood samples were taken from 150 volunteers for glucose measurement using three different glucometers on each subject. Simultaneously,  venous sample were taken from the subjects for glucose analysis using the standard hexokinase reference method. Various statistical methods were  used to compare the mean glucose measurement of each glucometer with that of the reference hexokinase method.

Result: Seventy male and eighty  female volunteers participated in the study with their age ranging from 17 to 90 years with mean age of 52.2 years. The mean glucose values of FineTest  glucometer (7.48mmol/L ± 3.53) was significantly higher than that of the hexokinase method (6.93mmol/L± 3.73), p < 0.001, while that of OnCall  (6.71mmol/L± 3.50) was significantly lower, p=0.013. Accu-Check had a mean value (6.84mmol/L ± 3.25) that was not significantly different from that of the  reference value, p=0.19. All the three point-of-care glucose devices had strong positive correlation with the reference method with Accu-Check having  the strongest correlation ((r = 0.982, p <0.001).

Conclusion: One out of the three glucometer analyzed had a comparable accuracy with that of the  standard reference method. Hence, caution should be exercised in how glucometers are used in the diagnosis and management of diabetes mellitus.