IS GLUCOSE SELF-MONITORING BENEFICIAL IN NON-INSULIN-TREATED DIABETIC-PATIENTS - RESULTS OF A RANDOMIZED COMPARATIVE TRIAL

Abstract

To study if self-monitoring of glucose, urinary or capillary, could help them to improve their metabolic control through better compliance to diet and/or hypoglycaemic agents, 208 non-insulin-treated poorly controlled diabetic patients were randomized to: group A.sbd.regular HbA1c determinations but no self-monitoring, group B.sbd.self-urine glucose monitoring, twice every other day, group C.sbd.self blood glucose monitoring, twice every other day, and followed six months. At the end of the study period, the decrease of HbA1c over six months.sbd.main endpoint.sbd.was not significantly different between the three groups (mean .+-. SEM; group A: -0.5 .+-. 0.2%; group B: -0.1 .+-. 0.3%; group C: -0.4 .+-. 0.3%). However, the degree of compliance to blood glucose self-monitoring in group C appeared to relate to the outcome: a significant correlation was found between the number of blood glucose strips used and the decrease of HbA1c (r = .36, p < .02). We conclude that regular self-monitoring has no definite advantage over the usual management for improving metabolic control in non-insulin-treated diabetic patients, though it may possibly help patients ready to comply with its use.