Large-scale performance evaluation of Accu-Chek inform II point-of-care glucose meters.

Background: The aim of this study was to report the experience of large-scale performance evaluation of 238 Accu-Chek Inform II point-of-care (POC) glucose meters in a single medical setting.

Methods: The repeatability of 238 POC devices, the within-site imprecision of 12 devices, and the linearity of 49 devices were evaluated using glucose control solutions. The glucose results of 24 POC devices and central laboratory were compared using patient samples.

Results: Mean concentration of control solutions was 2.39 mmol/L for Level 1 and 16.52 mmol/L for Level 2. The pooled repeatability coefficient of variation (CV) of the 238 devices was 2.0% for Level 1 and 1.6% for Level 2. The pooled within-site imprecision CV and reproducibility CV of the 12 devices were 2.7% and 2.7% for Level 1, and 1.9%, and 1.9% for Level 2, respectively. The test results of all 49 devices were linear within analytical measurement range from 1.55-31.02 mmol/L. The correlation coefficient for individual POC devices ranged from 0.9967-0.9985. The total correlation coefficient for the 24 devices was 0.998.

Conclusions: The Accu-Chek Inform II POC blood glucose meters performed well in terms of precision, linearity, and correlation evaluations. Consensus guidelines for the large-scale performance evaluations of POC devices are required.