Bedside glucose monitoring. Comparison of performance as studied by the College of American Pathologists Q-Probes program.

OBJECTIVE

To measure changes in practice characteristics and accuracy of bedside glucose monitoring between studies performed in 1991 and 1994.

DESIGN

Participants in a 1991 and a 1994 bedside glucose monitoring study of the College of American Pathologists Q-Probes program were compared using data collected by a questionnaire for 15 quality variables and data from paired specimens for accuracy. Accuracy goals of bedside testing were those defined by the American Diabetes Association as within 10% of the laboratory value. Accuracy was estimated using a daily paired comparison of patient specimens for 30 days, one bedside glucose instrument, and individuals who commonly performed these measurements.

SETTING

Institutions subscribing to the College of American Pathologists' voluntary quality improvement program, Q-Probes.

PARTICIPANTS

In 1991 and 1994, 605 and 544 institutions collected data about performance characteristics, whereas 171 and 242 institutions participated in the accuracy components, respectively.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Changes in accuracy between 1991 and 1994.

RESULTS

When compared, improvement occurred for 12 of 15 quality variables. However, no significant changes were found for the percentage of values within stated accuracy goals.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the process of bedside glucose testing improved between the 1991 and 1994 studies, the testing accuracy remained unchanged.