Effects of skin preparation on blood glucose monitoring results

Blood glucose testing is carried out on a routine basis as a key part of diabetes management. The evidence does not advocate the preferred use of any one method and there are several in use. In this article, the authors describe a local study that compared some of these methods and found no differences in blood glucose measurements obtained. However, the results drew attention to the related issue of reliability of capillary measurements as accurate predictors of plasma glucose results. The clinical implications are described.