Comparison of 2 portable human glucometers for the measurement of blood glucose concentration in White New Zealand rabbits

Abstract

We compared measurements of blood glucose concentrations in 30 healthy adult White New Zealand rabbits using 2 commercial portable glucometers (PGM1 and PGM2) and a laboratory chemical analyzer. Results were analyzed with Pearson correlation, Passing–Bablok regression analysis, Bland–Altman analysis, and a modified error grid. Measurements with PGM1 were significantly correlated ( r = 0.37) with those obtained from the laboratory reference method (RM); Bland–Altman and Passing–Bablok analyses indicated no significant systematic or proportional differences (mean difference of −0.26, 95% CI of mean difference of −0.54 to 0.01, and LOA of −1.70 to 1.17); and error grid resulted in 100% of measurements in zone A. No significant correlation ( r = −0.05) was detected between PGM2 and RM; Bland–Altman and Passing–Bablok analyses results indicated a mean difference of 2.14, 95% CI of mean difference of 1.67–2.60, and limit of agreement of −0.32 to 4.59, which overestimated blood glucose concentration, with 53% of glucose measurements in error grid zone A and 47% in zone B. PGM1 was considered accurate in normoglycemic rabbits, whereas the use of PGM2 could result in overestimations of glycemia.