title: Self-monitoring of blood glucose: one STeP forward?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In times of short health care budgets, reimbursement for self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) in diabetes patients without insulin treatment is subject to debate. The Structured Testing Program (STeP) trial found a positive correlation of test frequency and improved hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels in poorly controlled type 2 diabetes patients not treated with insulin.
  
  
  METHODS
  A structured literature search for other clinical studies reporting on SMBG frequency was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There is scarce evidence: three trials, including STeP, noted a significant and relevant correlation between testing frequency and improved HbA1c levels (FA effect), whereas two studies did not. The comparability between the identified studies is problematic.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Future research should consider correlations between testing frequency and level of glycemic control. More emphasis should be placed on a structured approach to use SMBG and to address adherence to testing and therapy.
authors.affiliation: GECKO Institute for Medicine, Informatics, and Economics, Heilbronn University, Heilbronn, Germany. wendelin.schramm@hs-heilbronn.de
authors.forename: Wendelin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schramm
mesh_terms: D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis*; D015190:Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring / Q000639:trends; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy; D004704:Endocrinology / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose