Abstract
Aims
To explore whether the first or the second drop of blood is more suitable for the
self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG).
Methods
SMBG was employed in hospitalized patients using the first and second drop of blood.
Venous blood glucose was measured meanwhile. The differences in blood glucose measurements
were then compared in groups with different regions of blood glucose levels.
Results
There were 802 groups of blood glucose in 526 patients. There was no significant difference
in the blood glucose levels of the first and second drop of blood and venous blood.
However, after combining then dividing measurements into six groups according to blood
glucose concentration, we found statistically significant differences between the
blood glucose levels obtained from the first drop, second drop, and venous blood in
the groups containing blood glucose values <9.9 or 20–30 mmol/L. In contrast, there were no significant differences in the 10–14.9 or 15–19.9 mmol/L groups.
Conclusions
In the clinical setting, both the first or second drop of blood can be used for performing
SMBG to assess real-time venous glucose. By categorizing blood glucose into different
levels more accurately, we observed that there was no significant difference between
the first or second drop of blood and the venous blood glucose value when blood glucose
levels were maintained between 10 and 20 mmol/L. When blood glucose levels were below 10 mmol/L, the value obtained from first drop of blood was close to that from venous
blood, whereas when the blood glucose level is >20 mmol/L, the blood glucose value from the second drop of blood was more accurate.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 09, 2014
Accepted:
March 13,
2014
Received in revised form:
March 9,
2014
Received:
January 21,
2014
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Primary Care Diabetes Europe. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
