33
COMPARING METER AND LABORATORY RESULTS
The meter provides you with whole blood equivalent results. The result you
obtain from your meter may differ somewhat from your laboratory result due to
normal variation. Meter results can be affected by factors and conditions that do
not affect laboratory results in the same way. (See test strip package insert for
typical accuracy and precision data, and for important information on limitations.)
To make an accurate comparison between meter and laboratory results, please
follow the guidelines below.
Before you go to the lab:
˙ Perform a control solution test to make sure that the meter is working properly.
˙ Fast for at least eight hours before doing comparison tests, if possible.
˙ Take your meter with you to the lab.
While at the lab:
Make sure that the samples for both tests (the meter test and the lab test are
taken and tested within 15 minutes of each other).
˙ Wash your hands before obtaining a blood sample.
˙ Never use your meter with blood that has been collected in a gray-top test tube.
˙ Use fresh capillary blood only.
You may still have a variation from the result because blood glucose levels can
change signicantly over short periods of time, especially if you have recently
eaten , exercised, taken medication, or experienced stress*
5
. In addition, if you
have eaten recently, the blood glucose level from a nger prick can be up to 70
mg/dL higher than blood drawn from a vein (venous sample) used for a lab test.*
6
Therefore, it is best to fast for eight hours before doing comparison tests. Factors
such as the amount of red blood cells in the blood (a high or low hematocrit) or
the loss of body uid (dehydration) may also cause a meter result to be different
from a laboratory result.
References
*5: Surwit, R.S., and Feinglos, M.N.: Diabetes Forecast (1988), April, 49-51.
*6: Sacks, D.B.: “Carbohydrates. “ Burtis, C.A., and Ashwood, E.R.( ed.), Tietz Textbook of Clinical
Chemistry. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company (1994), 959.
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