Evaluation of the use of the reflectance meter by several operators in field screening for diabetes mellitus.
The performance of reflectance meters for measuring blood glucose concentrations was evaluated in other studies previously and was found to be satisfactory. In the present study, we have evaluated the reliability of one brand of such meters (Glucometer II), when used by several operators, for blood glucose measurements during an epidemiological survey. We have compared the results obtained by the meter with those obtained by a standard hospital laboratory procedure for the same samples. A high and statistically significant degree of correlation (r = 0.901) was observed between the two groups of measurements. The linear regression equation was Y = 0.9X + 13.4. We conclude that the Glucometer II is an accurate and practical instrument even when used by several operators in epidemiological surveys provided that adequate training is given to those operators prior to using the instrument. This is important since the use of reflectance meters in epidemiological surveys is becoming increasingly widespread especially in the third world countries.
al-Kassab
A S
AS
Clinical Biochemistry and Diabetic Centre, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
Abu-Zeid
H A
HA
D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories / Q000592:standards; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology
D001786:Blood Glucose