Clinical utility of a glucose reflectance meter for screening neonates for hypoglycemia.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the clinical utility of a glucose reflectance meter to screen neonates for hypoglycemia.


METHODS
One hundred six infants admitted to the observation or level III nursery with a screening whole blood glucose concentration < or = 2.8 mmol/L (< or = 50 mg/dl) had a second sample drawn to compare glucose reflectance meter measurements with those of corrected laboratory-determined glucose concentrations. Error grid analysis was used to determine clinical utility of the reflectance meter in a clinical setting.


RESULTS
No reading obtained with the glucose reflectance meter was > 2.2 mmol/L (40 mg/dl) in infants whose true whole blood glucose concentration was < or = 1.7 mmol/L (30 mg/dl). Only 0.9% (1/106) of glucose reflectance meter values were < or = 1.7 (< or = 30 mg/dl) when the simultaneous laboratory-determined whole-blood glucose concentration was > 2.2 mmol/L (40 mg/dl). Glucose concentrations obtained by the reflectance meter correlated (r = 0.77, p = 0.001) with laboratory-determined concentrations.


CONCLUSIONS
The glucose reflectance meter provides a rapid and clinically useful method of screening for neonatal hypoglycemia.
Garland
J
J
Center for Women and Infants, St. Joseph's Hospital, Milwaukee, WI 53210, USA.
Alex
C
C
Gleisberg
D
D
Havens
P
P
D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D001786:Blood Glucose; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008403:Mass Screening; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D001786:Blood Glucose