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From: Provigilant on 23 Aug 2008 12:55
Sept. 2008

Ratings Blood-glucose meters


Availability Most models at stores through December 2008.
Within types, in performance order.
indicates Quick Pick.


Excellent Very good Good Fair Poor

Brand & model Price Overall score Test results Features

OneTouch UltraMini $20 $1.14 88
�
Ascensia Contour 80 1.10 78
� � �
OneTouch Ultra2 70 1.14 74
� �
ReliOn Ultima (Wal-Mart) CR Best Buy 9 0.44 70
� �
Accu-Chek Compact Plus 73 1.10 70
�
OneTouch UltraSmart 85 1.14 68
� �
Nova Max 60 0.96 67
� � �
FreeStyle Lite 75 1.30 64
� � �
Accu-Chek Aviva 75 1.10 55
� �
FreeStyle Freedom 72 1.30 50
�
Duo-Care Combined Blood Glucose and Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor 70
0.90 45

Ascensia Breeze 2 60 1.10 45
� �
TrueTrack (drugstore-chain label) 18 0.60 44
�



Guide to the Ratings


Overall score is based mainly on the model�s consistency, accuracy,
and ease of use and features. Consistency is the ability to provide
repeatable readings from tests at three glucose levels. Accuracy means
how closely the readings agreed with standard lab results. Ease of use
and features represents the judgment of lay people and expert testers
of how easy it was to use, maintain, and transport a meter, and how
useful its features were. Coding is automatic means models
automatically recognize the strips used to take blood-glucose
readings. Compact means no larger than a deck of cards. Lots of memory
indicates whether the model can store 400 or more readings. Price is
approximate retail but does not include rebates. Price per strip is
the approximate retail price for each glucose test strip.



Self-test kits

Accuracy is important when choosing blood-glucose meters and blood-
pressure monitors


Blood-pressure monitors Blood-glucose metersHOMEWORK Self-monitoring
can help people with hypertension or diabetes manage their disease.
Our tests of top-selling automatic blood-pressure monitors and blood-
glucose meters found big differences in accuracy and consistency.

No one should settle for less than high-scoring models, since at-home
monitoring can help people manage their blood pressure or diabetes and
stave off such serious complications as heart disease, stroke, and
kidney problems. Experts say relying on the readings of an inaccurate
model could lead to inadequate care.

Regularly testing blood pressure at home provides vital data that
people with hypertension and others at high risk for the disease can
use and share with their doctors to determine whether the condition is
under control. And blood-glucose monitoring at home can help many
diabetics maintain optimal sugar levels by adjusting their insulin,
medication levels, diet, and activity.

Our tests included laboratory measurements of the blood-pressure
monitor and blood-glucose meter models� accuracy and scores by panels
of people who rated the devices� ease of use and commented on various
features. Here�s what we found:


Automatic arm-type blood-pressure monitors were more accurate,
overall, than wrist monitors. Four of the arm models tested were
judged to be excellent, partly because of their accuracy: Omron
Women�s Advanced Elite, CVS by Microlife Deluxe Advanced, Omron
HEM-711AC, and ReliOn HEM-741CREL, a CR Best Buy at $40.


Only one blood-glucose meter, the OneTouch UltraMini, was rated
excellent overall.

It had top accuracy and consistency scores and was
very easy to use. The Ascensia Contour blood-glucose meter was rated a
very good choice because of its excellent accuracy and combination of
features, and its very good consistency. The ReliOn Ultima, another
very good choice, was also a CR Best Buy at just $9 (see blood-glucose
meter Ratings, available to subscribers.) and its testing strips cost
just 44 cents each.


The Duo-Care Combined Blood Glucose and Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor
was judged poor in our blood-pressure tests. And though it was rated
good in our blood-glucose tests, there�s cause for concern since it
could accidentally be set to show sugar levels in foreign measurement
units, rather than in U.S. units. That could lead to errors in
medication dosages. There are better choices.


September 2008

Best blood-pressure monitors

You don�t need a prescription to buy an at-home blood-pressure
monitor. But before spending $40 to $150, you should talk with your
physician.

More doctors might recommend home tests now based on advice from the
American Heart Association and other medical groups.

People with hypertension or suspected high blood pressure should
routinely self-monitor, according to an AHA statement issued in May.
Seniors, whose blood pressure can vary, are good candidates for at-
home tests. These tests can also be useful for people who experience
�white-coat hypertension,� a spike in blood pressure when they are
tested in a doctor�s office or hospital.

�Taking an active role by home monitoring empowers patients by giving
them a sense of control that motivates them to partner with their
doctors and stick with their treatment regimen,� says Jennifer Mieres,
M.D., an AHA spokeswoman and director of nuclear cardiology at the New
York University School of Medicine.

More patients need to monitor themselves at home, and it�s important
that they choose the best blood-pressure monitors for their needs,
including devices that will provide accurate readings. When we tested
the top-selling home monitors, we obtained approximately 6,000
readings from 57 men and women.

We compared the results of the home monitors with those obtained by
pairs of trained medical technicians who used a mercury
sphygmomanometer, the standard instrument for recording accurate
blood-
pressure readings. In our analysis, only models with readings that met
U.S. and international standards were judged excellent for accuracy.

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