- Messages
- 15
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
Some months ago I purchased an Accucheck Performa Nano for testing my BG. Although its not the cheapest device I purchased it as it is made by the medical device division of Roche, the enormous pharma company - and I thought if anyone should be able to produce reliable monitors it would be them. Recently I mislaid the device, and thinking it lost, bought a second one. Shortly afterwards the old one turned up so I now have two meters, both purchased within the past 6 months.
As I had noticed some variations on readings done consecutively on the original device I thought I would do a few tests to see if the results were consistent. This is what I did:
- I obtained a single drop of blood and applied it to testing strips in both of the meters at the same time
- the tests were done sometimes before meals and sometimes 2 hours after eating
- the tests were done over a 3 day period in the past week
The results are below. I see both meters never give the same reading and I was rather surprised the variation was up to 12%. It seems the older meter tends to give higher readings but this is not consistent.
If we had the same type of variation in HbA1c test this could really make quite a difference how we would be treated (e.g. difference between 50 and 45...)
I think my testing methods were reasonable but would welcome suggestions on how I could have been more rigourous. Also am I unreasonable in expecting there to be less variation?
I'd be interested in any comments about this. And does anyone know if all BG meters are subject to the same variance?
I'm Type 2, diagnosed in July 2019. Things well under control now thanks to the hints from forum and continuous monitoring of my BG!
As I had noticed some variations on readings done consecutively on the original device I thought I would do a few tests to see if the results were consistent. This is what I did:
- I obtained a single drop of blood and applied it to testing strips in both of the meters at the same time
- the tests were done sometimes before meals and sometimes 2 hours after eating
- the tests were done over a 3 day period in the past week
The results are below. I see both meters never give the same reading and I was rather surprised the variation was up to 12%. It seems the older meter tends to give higher readings but this is not consistent.
If we had the same type of variation in HbA1c test this could really make quite a difference how we would be treated (e.g. difference between 50 and 45...)
I think my testing methods were reasonable but would welcome suggestions on how I could have been more rigourous. Also am I unreasonable in expecting there to be less variation?
I'd be interested in any comments about this. And does anyone know if all BG meters are subject to the same variance?
I'm Type 2, diagnosed in July 2019. Things well under control now thanks to the hints from forum and continuous monitoring of my BG!