meter accuracy

[blporter11]

Hi, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes on 3 Oct 09. I was given a free Accu-chek Aviva meter and have been using it 4-5 times a day trying to make some sense out the readings. I did see the differance between having a Denny's Grand Slam vsr oatmeal without sugar, huge!

A few weeks ago I aquired an Accu-chek Compct Plus for free, I started using it along with the Aviva, and the Aviva is always approx 30 points higher. Accu-chek replaced the Aviva, but the results are the same. So, I got Walgreens True result meter for free with rebate. This meter reads 10 points lower then the Compact! Typical readings are Aviva 146/Trueresult 112, 241/192, 216/179, 145/114.

So, I brought both Aviva & True result to my doctors appointment yesterday, good news is my A1c test was 6.5, a big drop. Bads news is I asked the nurse to compare readigs with her meter, a higher line Accu-chek meter. Her reading: 212, Aviva: 181, True result: 145.

I am confused! My doctor said to just keep one meter and look for trends, rather then absolute readings. Her point was that my A1C test was good, so keep doing whatever I'd been doing. Maybe she is right, but I went into this thinking that these meters were accurate, not 40-50 points apart.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks, Bill

[ramon]

Hey Bill and welcome. If you go to the search on the far right of the page and type "meters" you will see some fine threads from last week on this very subject. Meters are usually 20% out up and down. I use the AVIVA and go by that. In 1 test you will see different readings on each finger with the same meter. Weird.

[cyberus]

The True line of meters uses a different tech than accu-chek and will always read lower, which doesn't make it wrong (given the +/-20% allowed by the FDA) just different.
IMHO unless you have a reason to think you are in danger of going low go with whatever meter you like the best and/or matches what your bloodwork is showing.

[blporter11]

Thanks Ramon. Give me time, I'm new to forums.

Bill

[Bountyman]

I've been running comparative tests on the Accu-Chek Compaq Plus meter I received (free) from Accu-Chek on December 1st. From all the numbers I've found the Accu-Chek Compaq Plus meter runs anywhere from 9% to 24% lower than any other meter.

None of any of the meters I tested were consistent during the same test. I used a Breeze2 meter on 5 different fingers within 2 minutes and got 5 different readings ranging from 147 to 224. When I was in the hospital I found their meter having an 80 point spread between two readings, one right after the other.

It's my opinion that the technology for testing blood glucose is still in its infancy with these hand-held home meters. I'm just glad that the readings I take aren't really necessary for anything other than my PA to browse through and give me an "attaboy". Like your doctor said, look for trends and compare your readings to how you actually feel. The tests I ran didn't really pinpoint which meter was closer to my actual blood glucose content. The numbers are actually just indicative of wasted test strips and extra holes in my fingers.

I've decided to keep and use the Compaq Plus meter for the sole fact that it uses a 17-test-strip drum. I'd rather choose my meter for accuracy than for ergonomics...but accuracy just ain't happening.

FWIW

[Bountyman]

And the beat goes on...

Today I received a One Touch UltraMini in the mail I'd asked for from some "free meter" site. I had to answer eleventy six questions while on the site...but what the heck, it's not like I was real busy. Cute little no nonsense meter with a lancet device that works a lot better than my Microlet2 lancing device, but still won't accept the BD 33G lancets I use.

I hadn't eaten this morning so I thought I'd do a FBG test on all 3 meters using the same droplet of blood. I set the lancing device to "OUCH" so that I could get a fairly good sized blood droplet. The results:

Accu-Chek Compaq Plus...91mg/dL
One Touch UltraMini..........92mg/dL
Bayer Breeze2.................118mg/dL

"Yes", I thought. I knew my new Accu-Chek meter was more accurate than that dang Breeze2. I guess the Accu-Chek doesn't read lower than all the other meters. I just needed another meter to compare it to, even though the One Touch UltraMini is made in China. I thought, well, since I got 10 test strips with the One Touch let's put that puppy to the test. Tests! Yes, more tests needed to feel better about this meter stuff!

I ate breakfast. Well, actually, since it was 1:50 in the afternoon...let's call it lunch. I had a hot dog and an apple. The hot dog bun...22 grams of carbohydrates. The apple, I'm not sure. I Decided to test at 1hr and 2hr intervals. I must have looked at the clock 20 times before 2:30 in anticipation. At one hour after eating:

1hr Accu-Chek 155
1hr One Touch 146

Um, close enough.

2hr Accu-Chek 140
2hr One Touch 108

I've decided that these meters have NO rhyme or reason and I'm going to save myself the $175 a month for testing supplies and just stick my finger with a sewing needle, lick the blood off my finger and if it tastes sweet...I'll know I'm treating myself a little too well.

And so concludes the Great December Glucose Meter Tests.

Happy Holidays to All!

[Axel Slinger]

I compared two OneTouch UltraSmart meters side by side using the same drops of blood and got similar questionable results as blporter11 got using various meters.

I called Lifescan and talked to them about it and they were kind enough to send me a brand new UltraSmart meter just in case my primary meter was malfunctioning, but it turned out to be the same situation. Different meters give you different results, which makes me wonder just how accurate these things are overall.

My primary meter is pretty close to what my A1c test results are most of the time though, so I just stick with it most of the time and only use the other ones when I am not at home, as I keep one in my car and one in my bike's tool kit. (Since I now have three...)

For my last three A1c tests the 90 day average the meter shows is the same as the A1c test results when the A1c test result was converted to eAG, and the one before that was only off by one point. My A1c was 5.9% which converts to 123 mg/dl and my meter's 90 day average was 124.