Blood Glucose Monitoring System - User’s Manual
Diagnostic Devices, Inc www.prodigymeter.com 1.800.243.2636
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COMPARING METER AND LABORATORY 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 pre-
cision data, and for important information on limitations). To make an accurate comparison
between meter and laboratory results, follow the guidelines below.
Before you go to the lab:
• Perform a control solution test to make sure that the meter is working properly.
• It is best to fast for at least eight (8) hours before doing comparison tests.
• 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
significantly over short periods of time, especially if you have recently eaten, exercised, taken
medication, or experienced stress*
4
. In addition, if you have eaten recently, the blood glucose
level from a finger stick can be up to 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L) higher than blood drawn from
a vein (venous sample) used for a lab test*
5
. 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 fluid (severe dehydration) may also cause a meter result
to be different from a laboratory result.
References
*4: Surwit, R.S., and Feinglos, M.N.: Diabetes Forecast (1988), April, 49-51.
*5: 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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