How accurate are home testing kits?

[etippelt]

I normally test with a Glucomen Visio, but have compared readings from the same finger punture on a Glucomen GM today to see what reading it gave.
The Visio showed 6.5 and the GM showed 7.4
That is rather a large spread of readings from a single puncture! Both meters kept at room temperature.
I note from the instructions that a test solution can be used to verify the accuracy of the meter but it is considered OK if the reading from the test solution is in the range 4.7 to 6.4 which I would not regard as particularly accurate.

If this spread of readings is representative of the generally low accuracy of home testing meters then it's difficult to be sure if your fasting readings are good or not - after all, they too might be inaccurate by up to 1.4 mmol.

Has there been any quantitative testing of the various meters on the market to establish if one make is consistently more accurate than the others?

Ed

 

[SouthernGeneral6512]

I have AccuChek Aviva and wonder how long the test strips can last in the bottle with it being continually opened and closed ... are the last few really as accurate as the first few?

 

[noblehead]

Stick to one meter only and don't compare as you won't get the same reading twice, my understanding is bg meters are +/- 10% out on accuracy.......or better had be!

 

[kjc2012]

I was diagnosed with type 2 just over a yr ago, take 2 500mg metformin a day and never been advised to test. I think i'm going to take the advise off people on the forum and start testing, and get better control of my blood sugar levels and not wait months to find out if i've got it under control. can anyone give me any advise on how often to test, when and how and recommend a meter anything you can tell me will be of great help thanks.

 

[SamJB]

The MyLife Pura is supposedly the most accurate. Can't find the link, but a comparison with other meters is in its literature. The test steps are designed to give the most accurate readings.

Cheap test strips too, £9.50 for 50 from the pharmacy. [Edit: this price is wrong, see my later post]

 

[Lord Choc Ice]

The MyLife Pura is supposedly the most accurate. Can't find the link, but a comparison with other meters is in its literature. The test steps are designed to give the most accurate readings.

Cheap test strips too, £9 for £50 from the pharmacy.

That's cheap, I was just about to buy them for £20 from Amazon. Do you mean you get them on prescription ? I mean I could do as well but I thought maybe I could buy them. Also, I can't seem to find the MyLife lancets unless I go to a German site - would any lancet work ? EDIT: just rang MyLife customer careline and the lancets were £5-50....and £15 postage .

 

[SamJB]

I get them on prescription because I'm T1. I got the price from a previous post on the T1 board. Here's the quote:

Hi, could anyone provide a link on where to find the costs of these things to the NHS? My research technique obviously sucks!

try the NHS drug tariff:
http://www.ppa.org.uk/edt/August_2012/mindex.htm
the strips are in section IXR

Note that I edited my previous post to read £9.50 for 50 (typo put a £ in front of the "50" and they're £9.50, not £9). Unfortunately, it looks like the tariff above is for the NHS and that the pharmacies are putting a higher mark-up price. Sorry about the confusion. The cheapest web price I could find is £13.68:

http://www.mylocalchemist.com/mylife-pu ... s-50-pack/

The lancets do seem to be a bit longer than the ones for my Contour meter, so you may need to get MyLife-specific ones. I got my meter for free as all meter companies seem to fall over themselves to give them away, as they make their money on the strips. I rang them to ask for a free meter and they obliged. The only downside with the meter is that it is fiddly to use in its case. I like to discretely test whilst out and about and the layout of the case makes this difficult. The accuracy makes up for this in my mind, though.

 

[Lord Choc Ice]

Thanks for the link Sam - better than Amazon.

You're so right about the companies falling over themselves to give you free 'stuff' . If it's not batteries it's something else.

Yes, it is quite fiddly as you have everything open - it's not a quick discreet test-kit.