Standard Deviation.

[sindybird]

Morning all, hope someone can help me, can anyone tell me what Standard Deviation means please.
So far all good I have linked my tee2+ to my phone which has made it easier for me to keep check on my readings.

I can see plenty of within results (show in green) and it shows an average result, it is just the Standard Deviation reading which I am struggling to understand.

If someone could explain it to me in idiot terms.. lol... I would be grateful.

So far my readings have been 5.7/6.2 before and after meals and showing an average of 6.2 and the standard deviation of 1.1.
I know this is early days and the levels could change over the weeks.

Also so far I have not been confirmed (if that is the correct terms) with diabetes, the reason I am testing my blood glucose, is because my Hbc1a results came back slightly elavated according to my doctors surgery (cholestrol level as it should be) and they invited me to see the diabetes team. The idea of testing my blood glucose, is to be prepared for when they contact me.

I have been under a huge amount of stress since the begining of the year, lossing my dad, finding out my dad (mum passed away four years ago) had given my inheritence away to his neighbour that had been looking after him and not knowing if we would be able to get personal belongings that belonged to our mum.
Long history of my dad being very abusive, fist happy and controlling, stopping us seeing my mum a few years before she passed away (mum had alzheimer's so he had full control over her) and continuing to cut myself and other family out of his life.
Again a long story which would take a lot to explain, but just wanted to give you an idea of way I have been stressed out since the begining of the year. Normally I can get stressed but not as stressed as this.

Oh and lets not forget about Covid this has also contributed to the stress as well. I am a sereve asthmatic, who has been and is continuning to sheild.

Sorry for the long post and bit of personal history, but thought it may be important.

Many thanks.

 

[bulkbiker]

Here you go

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_deviation

 

[Brunneria]

Hi Sindy

Here you go
https://diatribe.org/understanding-average-glucose-standard-deviation-cv-and-blood-sugar-variability#:~:text=“SD” is shorthand for “,will have a larger SD.

It is a bit too techy for me to try and explain, so I always refer ppl to this article The only problem is that the units discussed are American, not what the rest of the world uses. So just translate the numbers by dividing by 18. So 18 Americal units = approx 1mmol/l

But basically, the lower the SD, the better, and yours is good.
Nuff said

 

[sindybird]

Lovely thank you @Brunneria, I shall have a proper read of the article later. The lower the SD the better, I see .

And @bulkbiker I did find that information on wikipedia but found it to too much for my brain to take in, well what brains I have got ...lol.. but thank you anyway.

 

[bulkbiker]

Lovely thank you @Brunneria, I shall have a proper read of the article later. The lower the SD the better, I see .

And @bulkbiker I did find that information on wikipedia but found it to too much for my brain to take in, well what brains I have got ...lol.. but thank you anyway.

OK sorry .. I look at it as the average of the distances you are away from the "absolute" average.. so if you average was say 6 mmol/l but your range was equally split between 5 and 7 the your SD would be 1.0 so the avg range would be 5.5 to 6.5.
At least I think thats how it works.. I"m sure someone will be along soon to say I'm wrong!

 

[sindybird]

@bulkbiker No need to say sorry, you have been helpful.
As I said early days for me, my levels could change over the next few weeks.
All these numbers will take me a bit of time to get use to.

 

[ziggy_w]

Hi @sindybird,

As @Brunneria has already said, the standard deviation is a measure of variability in the meter readings.

So, for example, if you have an average of 6 mmol with readings as low as 3 mmol and as high as 15 mmol, your standard deviation would be larger than if you have the same average but readings between 4.5 mmol and 8 mmol. So, it is a measure of the range, into which your readings fall, and therefore will be very closely related to "time in range".

 

[Dr Snoddy]

The standard deviation tells you something about how reliable the average (mean) reading is. It is possible to calculate an average from any set of figures. For example values of 1, 2, 12, 13 would give an average of 7. However, that 7 does not represent the figures that were used to calculate it.
A small SD says that the average is a good representation of the figures that were used to calculate it. A big standard deviation suggests that the average value is less reliable.

 

[sindybird]

@ziggy_w thank you for your reply and help.

 

[sindybird]

@Dr Snoddy thank you for your help as well, I shall be keeping any eye on my numbers.

 

[Dr Snoddy]

Hi Sindybird. I hope you are able to get support with some of your other issues as you are certainly having a lot to deal with.

 

[sindybird]

Thank you @Dr Snoddy.