The Importance of Blood Glucose Monitoring During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Asia-Pacific blood glucose monitoring market is expected to grow more than nine percent annually and is estimated to exceed USD 3.8 billion by 2025. With the numerous blood glucose monitors available in the market, selecting the appropriate product for a particular patient can be overwhelming for physicians, diabetes educators, doctors, and pharmacists.

Most monitors are comparable in performance, but they vary in terms of plasma versus whole blood calibration, testing site, meter size and shape, test time, sample size, memory capacity, software compatibility, complexity, and test strips. The equipment should be approved by either the International Organization for Standardization or the US Food and Drug Administration.

There is no single blood glucose monitor that is better than all the others. When selecting one, it is recommended to get complete and thorough information or even a training regarding how to conduct self-monitoring blood glucose properly and correctly.

The healthcare provider or pharmacist will be the key person to help a patient choose a monitor based on their preferences as well as other factors like cost, ease of use, and accuracy. For example, pharmacists must have an extensive understanding of the blood glucose monitoring products they sell together with diabetes educations, glucometer education for self-monitoring blood glucose, and understand the steps of offsite testing.

While blood glucose monitors are reasonably accurate, there can still be some variability between different products. It is always advisable to use caution and common sense when selecting the right device. If the result does not seem to be accurate, for example, if it indicates that the blood glucose level is very low, but the patients do not have any occurring symptoms, take a second reading or use an alternate method for testing including a different device.

The use of continuous glucose monitoring (GCM) is a way to monitor blood glucose levels every five to 15 minutes throughout the entire day. CGM systems use a glucose sensor to measure the level of glucose in the fluid under the skin. The sensor is attached to a transmitter placed on your skin, which is held in place with a sticky patch. It wirelessly transmits results to a small recording device (no larger than a cell phone) or a smartphone or other smart device.

Because of the reliability issues, the warm-up periods, and the need to calibrate some of the devices, CGM does not eliminate the need for at least the occasional finger sticks. Experts think that CGM may be most useful in people who have frequent episodes of low blood glucose, episodes of low blood glucose during the night (nocturnal hypoglycemia), large fluctuations in their blood glucose levels, and/or difficulty recognizing when they have low blood glucose.

It is important that suppliers and distributors not only provide these blood glucose monitors but also train and guide their customers to use this equipment properly. This training is very important especially for hospital and pharmacy staff who in return can provide quality services to patients.

During the COVID-19 period, DKSH has conducted remote medical consultations for doctors, pharmacists, and patients to keep them updated regarding their blood glucose monitoring. Pharmacists can work to expand their pharmaceutical care services by helping people with diabetes pick the right blood glucose monitors and understand the importance of self-monitoring of blood glucose for people suffering from diabetes.