Insulin Pump Users

This is interesting — a guy in my office who knows I’m diabetic brought
in his copy of Consumer Reports because he thought I’d like to read their
article on diabetes care.

Most of it was stuff we all know, but they had a good chart on eleven
different blood glucose meters. Consistency means giving similar
readings on successive tests of the same sample; accuracy means how
closely the readings agreed with standard lab results. Here’s how they
ranked (in order):

1. ONE TOUCH ULTRA
Ease of use and features: excellent
Consistency: very good
Accuracy: very good
Features: alternate-site testing, large memory, displays averages,

downloads to computer, high temperature range, lancet ejects, lancet cap,
lancet depth adjustable.
Comments: A very good choice. Accurate, consistent and easy to use.
Gives quick results and requires less blood than most. Needs minimal
cleaning.

2. ACCU-CHEK ADVANTAGE
Ease of use and features: very good
Consistency: very good
Accuracy: very good
Features: Large memory, downloads to computer, high temperature range,
lancet ejects, lancet depth adjustable
Comments: A very good choice. Accurate, consistent and easy to use.
Needs minimal cleaning.

3. FREE-STYLE
Ease of use and features: very good
Consistency: very good
Accuracy: very good
Features: Alternate-site testing, large memory, displays averages,
lancet ejects, lancet cap, lancet depth adjustable
Comments: A very good choice. Accurate, consistent and easy to use.
Gives quick results and requires less blood than most. Needs minimal
cleaning.

4. ONE TOUCH SURE-STEP
Ease of use and features: good
Consistency: very good
Accuracy: excellent
Features: large memory, displays averages, downloads to computer, lancet
ejects, lancet cap, lancet depth adjustable
Comments: Accurate and consistent. But larger than most. Needs periodic
cleaning.

5. GLUCOMETER DEX
Ease of use and features: good
Consistency: very good
Accuracy: very good
Features: Large memory, displays averages, downloads to computer, high
temperature range, lancet cap
Comments: Accurate and easy to use. But less consistent than some. Uses
a convenient 10-strip cartridge. Needs minimal cleaning.

6. ONE TOUCH BASIC
Ease of use and features: good
Consistency: very good
Accuracy: very good
Features: large memory, downloads to computer, lancet ejects, lancet
cap, lancet depth adjustable
Comments: Accurate and consistent. But larger than most and needs
periodic cleaning.

7. ONE TOUCH FAST-TAKE
Ease of use and features: very good
Consistency: poor
Accuracy: very good
Features: large memory, displays averages, downloads to computer, lancet
ejects, lancet cap, lancet depth adjustable
Comments: There are better choices, due to poor consistency. But
accurate and easy to use. Gives quick results and requires less blood
than most. Needs minimal cleaning.

8. MEDI-SENSE PRECISION QID
Ease of use and features: good
Consistency: good
Accuracy: very good
Features: lancet cap, lancet depth adjustable
Comments: Accurate but less consistent than some. Requires less blood
than most. Needs minimal cleaning. Batteries are not replaceable but
should last for 4,000 tests.

9. AT-LAST
Ease of use and features: fair
Consistency: poor
Accuracy: very good
Features: alternate-site testing, displays averages
Comments: There are better choices. Accurate, but much less consistent
than most. Larger and much harder to use than most. Analyzes blood only
from arm and thigh. Needs minimal cleaning. Batteries are not replaceable
but should last for 2,500 tests.

10. IN-CHARGE
Ease of use and features: good
Consistency: poor
Accuracy: fair
Features: large memory, downloads to computer, lancet depth adjustable
Comments: There are better choices. Less accurate and much less
consistent than most. Needs periodic cleaning. Also measures
glucoprotein, a gauge of long-term glucose control.

11. PRESTIGE 10
Ease of use and features: good
Consistency: poor
Accuracy: fair
Features: large memory, lancet cap, lancet depth adjustable
Comments: There are better choices. Less accurate and much less
consistent than most. Needs periodic cleaning.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 30th, 2007 at 10:43 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.