Title: Prevalence and Predictors of Home Use Blood Glucose Meters Among the People With Diabetes in Bangladesh and Relation with HbA1c: A Multicenter Cross- sectional Study.
Link: https://doi.org/10.52402/Diabetes702
Abstract:
Introduction: The importance of self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) in the management of type 1 diabetes mellitus has been recognized and has its role in Type 2 diabetes mellitus as well. Despite the health benefits of SMBG, many diabetics do not practice it on a regular basis. Our study aimed at determining the proportion of people with diabetes practiced SMBG with home use blood glucose meter and also to find out the factors that influence the glucometer utilization.
Methods: Between September 2020 and March 2021, this multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted among Bangladeshi adults who had diabetes for more than 6 months and were recruited from the outpatient departments (OPD) of 10 hospitals and private clinics across the nation. For this study, patients who used a glucometer at least once a month were labeled as glucometer users, while the rest were labeled as non-users.
Result: Glucometer users accounted for 50.4 percent of the 1056 participants, while lack of awareness about glucometer use being the main reason for non-use among the non-users. Among the glucometer-users majority (40.7%) had checked their blood glucose weekly and mostly (39.6%) found fasting state to be most convenient time to monitor blood glucose. Age, gender, education status, occupation, monthly income status, having a first-degree relative with diabetes, experiencing hypoglycemia & hospitalizations in the previous six months, both physician consultation setting & consultation duration, treatment regimen, awareness of diabetic complications, proper idea about diabetes control, and thinking of both whether glucometer use helps managing diabetes or modifying medications were all found to be significantly associated with SMBG adhesion. Whereas marital status, smoking status, diabetes duration, and the existence of diabetic complications had no bearing on this study. In addition, this study found significant association of glycemic control with the glucometer usage (p<0.001).
Conclusion: The importance of SMBG in diabetes management is highlighted in this study.
Keywords: SBMG, Diabetes, Glucose, HbA1c
Corresponding Author: Dr. Md. Ahamedul Kabir, Department of Endocrinology, Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College & Hospital, Bogra, Bangladesh
