Can the test monitors be trusted.

In general yes. If you get an unexpected result, wash your hands and retest. Could be contamination or a rogue strip.

All monitors are equal but some are more equal than others. I believe the regulatory standards stipulate an accuracy of +-15% but I don't know if that is absolute or relative accuracy (repeatability), and it also doesn't necessarily mean that some are not more accurate. The most repeatable system I have personally used is the Contour Next range of meters, but the strips are also among the most costly.

In the end, trending patterns are more valuable than single-point data. The exception might be for people who are at risk of hypoglycaemia, such as those using exogenous insulin or oral hypoglycaemics drugs. Here, an error of 1mmol/L or greater in either direction could be of more immediate relevance.

Don't be too quick to blame the meter! All sorts of things can (occasionally) give you different/unexpected readings - e.g mucky fingers, rogue or out of date test strips, eating too many carbs, stress, illness, pain, some medications or drugs, the fact that you blood's circulating and carrying different levels of glucose around with it...

As @Jim Lahey say patterns are generally more important & informative than individual figures, but if or when you get an unexpected result, then pause and ask yourself WHY this might have happened, and if you don't find a good reason then wash hands and retest.

(You can get test solutions for using with tubs of possibly errant test strips which will indicate whether they're working within the permitted range for that batch,)

I've trusted my Contour meter for nearly six years now and there's been very few times I've needed to question ITS accuracy - me and the test strips maybe, but not the actual meter.

Automon said:

I ask this as I have been testing regularly for a month or so. My readings are coming down and my medication I have reduced to 2 tablets. I test before my main meal and 2 hours after and my readings normally stop the same or go 1.5/2 higher. I got a fright the other day when testing after the meal and got a reading of 11.4 from 5 before the meal. I tested again straight away and my level was 6.2. I tested again with a different monitor that reading was 6.3. Testing again with my monitor the test showed 6.2 again hence my question can these monitors be trusted.

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I'd say that's just a faulty strip.... and this is why I always retest straight after the first to validate whether or not the reading is within range of being accurate. I personally would not rely on just a single reading.... but that's just my view on it.