title: Self-monitoring of blood-glucose. Improvement of diabetic control.
abstract: An accurate pattern of blood-glucose changes in everyday life is the basis for treatment in insulin-dependent diabetes. 69 patients were taught to obtain their own blood-glucose profiles with a 'Reflomat' Boehringer Mannheim) reflectance meter on one working and one rest day, and to repeat these where necessary after adjustment of treatment. 2 did not complete the study satisfactorily. The other 67 produced profiles on 241 dyas. Even patients with a limited education could use the technique accurately and their readings correlated closely with simultaneous laboratory values (r = 0.96). Self-monitoring was especially useful in elucidating problems in diabetic control, preventing hypoglycaemia, and managing diabetic pregnancy. Unlike the measurement of HbA1c which only detects poor diabetic control, self-monitoring also shows how to improve it. Patients found self-monitoring more informative than urine tests; their active involvement in management of their disease resulted in better motivation, greater understanding of diabetes, and a sustained improvement in control. By the end of the study 32 of the 67 patients ahd profiles in which no more than one blood-glucose value exceeded 10 mmol/l. Smaller and more portable machines will make the technique more widely applicable.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000517:prevention & control; D007328:Insulin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D010358:Patient Participation; D011247:Pregnancy; D011254:Pregnancy in Diabetics / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin