An assessment of field methods measuring blood and urine glucose levels

All the home monitoring products for blood and urine glucose testing available during the period of study were tested against a laboratory reference method. BM 20–800 was the most accurate of the blood reagent strips. Visidex II was more accurate than Visidex, particularly in the hypoglycaemic range. All the reflectance meters were more accurate than the blood reagent strip. Diabur 5000 was the most accurate field method of assessing glycosuria. However, in assessing metabolic control, quantitation of glycosuria, whether by field or reference method, was a poor substitute for direct blood glucose measurement.