Comparative study of home blood glucose monitoring devices: Visidex, Chemstrip bG, Glucometer, and Accu-Chek bG

Visidex (Ames Company, Elkhart, Indiana) and Accu-Chek bG (Bio-Dynamics, Boehringer Mannheim, Indianapolis, Indiana), two new devices for determining blood glucose at home, were compared with two older devices, Chemstrip bG (Bio-Dynamics) and Glucometer (Ames Company), and the standard laboratory glucose-oxidase method (Beckman autoanalyzer, Beckman Instruments, Fullerton, California). Laboratory serum glucose values up to 400 mg/dl had excellent overall correlation with Accu-Chek bG (r = 0.974), Glucometer (r = 0.974), Chemstrip bG (r = 0.963), and Visidex (r = 0.955). For glucose values ≤180 mg/dl, Glucometer had the best correlation (r = 0.921). For glucose values of 181-400 mg/dl, Accu-Chek bG had better correlation (r = 0.907) although Glucometer had closer mean value. Visidex was just as accurate as Chemstrip bG. Although the four devices tested tended to give lower values than the lab method, they are sufficiently accurate to be of clinical use in home monitoring of blood glucose. Meticulous care in running the tests is mandatory for accuracy. Individual differences among the four methods are discussed.