[Capillary blood sample for type 2 diabetes screening: fingertip versus forearm].
OBJECTIVE
In Spain, around 50% of diabetic mellitus cases remain undiagnosed. Capillary blood puncture improves the diabetes screening accessibility. New test strips used in the Blood Glucose Monitoring System allow fingertip and forearm punctures yet they create the dilemma on what is the best anatomic place.


METHODS
We compared fingertip and forearm capillary blood glucose determinations.


RESULTS
In a sample of 107 patients, a 110 mg/dl cut-off point for the fingertip and 125 mg/dl for the forearm were more sensitive. Patient's preferences were as follows: 67% indifferent, 28% forearm and 5% fingertip.


CONCLUSIONS
In this study, the best anatomic site for puncture depended on the cut-off point used in diabetes screening.
Centro de Salud Barrio de la Salud, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, Spain. fcojcuev@teleline.es
Francisco Javier
FJ
Cuevas Fernández
María José
MJ
Iglesias Girón
Ignacio Llorente
IL
Gómez de Segura
Armando
A
Aguirre-Jaime
D000368:Aged; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis*; D002196:Capillaries; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000098:blood supply*; D005542:Forearm / Q000098:blood supply; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
D001786:Blood Glucose