To guide the diagnostic process, general practitioners (GPs) increasingly ask for point-of-care testing (POCT) solutions, as a replacement for sending patients to an external laboratory or hospital to perform blood test. Further research, with a random selection procedure of practices and patients and in other regions and countries, is recommended to confirm these findings. Patients, nurses and GPs expressed (very) positive first experiences after introducing HbA1c and professional glucose testing on two high-quality POCT devices in their own general practices. Patients, nurses and GPs generally expressed they wanted to continue performing these POC tests in routine diabetes care. Perceived disadvantages were the time required to regularly calibrate the devices and the extension of the consultation time because of the test. Both nurses and GPs had confidence in the test results and indicated they experienced a higher patient satisfaction than with regular blood tests. Almost all nurses indicated to have sufficient knowledge and skills to perform the test. Patients were most positive about the location (in the GPs’ office) and execution of the POC test (by their own nurse), and the speed of the test result. Patients, nurses and GPs were generally (very) satisfied with the novel POC tests. Response rates varied between 24 and 56%. For professional glucose POCT, 30 patients, 17 nurses and 8 GPs responded. For HbA1c POCT, 84 patients, 29 nurses and 11 GPs filled in the questionnaires. ResultsĪ total of 1551 fingerstick blood POC tests were performed (1126 HbA1c 425 Glucose). Descriptive data analyses were performed. Patients filled in the questionnaire immediately after the test nurses and GPs after a minimum period of three months from the starting date. HbA1c and professional glucose POCT was introduced after training and under day-to-day quality control. MethodsĪ cross-sectional observational study using paper questionnaires for patients, nurses and general practitioners (GPs) in 13 general practices in the Netherlands. Our aim was to get insight into the first experiences of patients and healthcare professionals after introducing quality-controlled HbA1c and professional glucose POCT in diabetes care in their own general practices. The rapid availability of the test result during the patient encounter increases the potential for patients and care providers to make a direct and joint decision on disease management. Consensus guidelines for the large-scale performance evaluations of POC devices are required.īlood glucose diabetes performance evaluation point-of-care testing.Point-of-care testing (POCT) is increasingly used in primary care. The Accu-Chek Inform II POC blood glucose meters performed well in terms of precision, linearity, and correlation evaluations. The total correlation coefficient for the 24 devices was 0.998. The correlation coefficient for individual POC devices ranged from 0.9967-0.9985. The test results of all 49 devices were linear within analytical measurement range from 1.55-31.02 mmol/L. The pooled within-site imprecision CV and reproducibility CV of the 12 devices were 2.7% and 2.7% for Level 1, and 1.9%, and 1.9% for Level 2, respectively. The pooled repeatability coefficient of variation (CV) of the 238 devices was 2.0% for Level 1 and 1.6% for Level 2. Mean concentration of control solutions was 2.39 mmol/L for Level 1 and 16.52 mmol/L for Level 2. The glucose results of 24 POC devices and central laboratory were compared using patient samples. The repeatability of 238 POC devices, the within-site imprecision of 12 devices, and the linearity of 49 devices were evaluated using glucose control solutions. The aim of this study was to report the experience of large-scale performance evaluation of 238 Accu-Chek Inform II point-of-care (POC) glucose meters in a single medical setting.
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