Comparison of capillary and plasma glucose values in screening and oral glucose tolerance testing in pregnancy.

The substitution of capillary reflectance meter glucose values for plasma or serum glucose values would be practical and cost saving. A direct comparison was performed of simultaneous capillary reflectance meter and plasma glucose values in routine screening and oral glucose tolerance testing in a pregnant population. The use of capillary glucose in 50-g glucola screening had a sensitivity of 82.6% and specificity of 98.1% as compared to the standard plasma method. Even though our data demonstrate a good correlation (r = 0.897) between capillary and plasma glucose values, our results do not support the direct substitution of plasma glucose values with capillary reflectance meter glucose values in screening for or diagnosing glucose intolerance in an obstetric population.