Alternative site blood glucose testing: a multicenter study.

The aim of this study was to compare glucose measurements between fingertip and forearm using the blood glucose (BG) monitoring system One Touch® Ultra™ (LifeScan), an electrochemical sensor that requires only a very small drop of blood (1 μL). Patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes were identified in five outpatient diabetes clinics. Participants were requested to use the One Touch Ultra at home for 1 week for the measurement of BG levels from both sites. Patients filled in a questionnaire about their experience with testing blood samples from fingertip and forearm. The agreement between the measurements from the two sites was assessed using linear regression analysis, mean absolute relative error (MARE), the Bland-Altman method, and Error Grid Analysis (EGA). Overall, 112 patients were recruited, of whom 58% had type 1 diabetes. Linear regression analysis showed an intercept of 17.7, statistically different from 0 (p < 0.0001). The slope was 0.956, and the Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.95. A MA...