Prevalence of Different Brands and SMBG Frequency of Glucometer in Dakshina Kannada

Glucometer is helpful to find out the glucose in blood. The purpose of the study was to assess the frequency of self-monitoring of glucose and the prevalence of different brands of glucometer used by the diabetic patients. The prospective observational study was conducted among 150 patients above 18 years of age. 45.33% of participants were males and 54.67% of patients were females. The big percentage of age group belongs to 51-70 years (76.6%) followed by 71-90 years (16%) and age of 31-50 years (7.3%). Of the total, 24% has elementary school education, were 33.3% high school pass outs, and 42.6% were college/university graduates. Out of 150 patients, 54.67% used glucometer and 45.33% were not using glucometer. Among these, 30.49% used Accu-chek, 21.95% One-touch, 14.63% Gluco-one and 32.93% used other brands. Out of 54.67%, 5.33% of people were using daily, 21.33% weekly once, 28.00% were using monthly and 45.33% were not using glucometer.The present study concluded that SMBG is to help people with diabetes to improve their glycemic control. The relationship between blood glucose and SMBG frequency supported the view that SMBG is an essential element in diabetes management. The patient compliance regarding SMBG is finite. Thus, almost 60% of patients did not perform daily SMBG and above 45% did not perform routine test. Accu-chek glucometer to have an acceptable accuracy with the sensitivity of 81%, specificity 65%, PPV (positive predictive value) 74% and NPV (negative predictive value) 74%. Accu-chek was found to be the most accurate and widely used glucometer.Key words: Frequency, Glucometer brand, SMBG (Self monitoring of blood glucose).