Clinical Accuracy of Capillary Blood Glucose Monitoring in Hospitalized Patients with Diabetes

Abstract

This study evaluated the clinical accuracy of capillary blood glucose monitoring (CBGM) performed by nursing personnel on hospitalized patients with diabetes. We compared the results of 80 serum glucose samples obtained in a blinded fashion within 5 minutes of routine capillary glucose measurements performed during the course of clinical care. The CBGM results obtained by a diabetes nurse specialist during endocrine testing procedures were correlated with the serum results. Correlation of CBGM to serum glucose ranged from.74 to .99 depending on the method used. Visual and manual interpretation yielded the lowest correlation and variable accuracy results, per error grid analysis, with 1 in 4 patients having errors of sufficient magnitude that could lead to inappropriate therapy. Monitoring with the AccuChek II® blood glucose meter produced the highest correlation and most accurate clinical readings. Bedside blood glucose monitoring of inpatients has a wide range of reliability depending on the method used.