An evaluation of the accuracy and cost effectiveness of a reflectance photometer for monitoring blood glucose concentration in the hospital setting

Euglycemia is the goal of therapy for diabetic patients receiving insulin or oral hypoglycemic medications. Without proper control of blood glucose concentration serious» complications may occur, such as, ketoacidosis or hypoglycemic shock. Historically, monitoring outpatient blood glucose has been accomplished by measuring the urine glucose content. Urine glucose indirectly reflects blood glucose concentration of 180 mg/dl or greater depending upon the glucose threshold of the patient's kidneys, and is inadequate in detecting hypoglycemia. Until recently, directly measuring a patient's blood glucose concentration was a process requiring a clinical laboratory and a trained phlebotomist to obtain blood for glucose analysis. With the advent of glucose reagent strips and reflectance photometers, home blood glucose monitoring has now become a possible alternative to urine glucose testing. Numerous reports and studies have defined the role of reagent strips and reflectance photometers in blood glucose monitoring procedures.