Self Monitoring of Blood Glucose With Finger Tip vs. Alternate Site Sampling: Effect on Long Term Glycemic Control

February 10, 2009 updated by: Boston Medical Center

Randomized Trial to Assess the Effect of Using Alternate Site Blood Glucose Testing Versus Finger-Tip Testing on Long-Term Glycemic Control.

The objective is to assess the effect of using ASBG (alternate site blood glucose) versus FTBG (finger tip blood glucose) testing on long-term glycemic control in diabetics. Since ASBG measurements appear to lag behind FSBG measurements at times of changing glucose concentration, it is possible that ASBG measurements will yield lower postprandial readings than FTBG, potentially causing a negative impact on long-term control. It is also possible that since ASBG is reportedly more comfortable than FTBG testing, it's use might improve adherence to testing and improve long term control.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

Patients undergo an initial screening visit. Inclusion criteria include adults 18 -70 years of age with type II diabetes currently using insulin and recording SMBG measurements. Exclusion criteria include history of severe hypoglycemic episodes, current use of ASBG measurements, serious co-morbid illness or pregnancy. For eligible subjects baseline data including HbA1C is obtained. The goal for enrollment is 176 subjects. Subjects are randomized into either a fingertip or an arm-testing group within strata of baseline HbA1C. Each subject who does not already have one receives a One Touch Ultra® SMBG device. All subjects receive training in the use of this device, but for those in the arm-testing group this includes training on obtaining samples from the forearm. Arm- testing subjects are encouraged to use arm testing as much as possible but to use finger testing if they are not able to obtain a sample from the arm. All subjects are asked to perform SMBG testing before breakfast, before dinner and 2 hours after dinner and to complete diaries of all SMBG readings. At 1, 3 and 5 months after the training visit subjects see a diabetes provider who makes adjustments in the therapeutic regimen based on the SMBG measurements, as they would during routine diabetes management. Diary sheets are then collected and the data they contain is entered into a database. At months 2, 4 and 7 subjects present for a visit to drop off their diary sheets. At months 4 and 7 they have blood drawn for HbA1C measurement. The principal outcome variable is level of diabetic control as measured by 7-month HbA1c. The means for each group will be compared, and we will test the hypothesis that glycemic control as represented by 7-month HbA1C is not worse for the ASBG group than the FTBG group. Secondary outcome variables are compliance with testing and number of hypoglycemic episodes.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

174

Phase

  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02118
        • Boston University Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 70 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Inclusion criteria will include adults 18 -70 years of age with type II diabetes currently using insulin and recording SMBG measurements.

Exclusion Criteria:

Patients will be excluded who have a history of hypoglycemic episodes, within the last two years, requiring urgent medical attention, hypoglycemia resulting in cognitive impairment, a lack of symptoms during hypoglycemic episodes. Subjects will also be excluded who have type I DM as determined by the investigators on a case-by-case basis, subjects who already utilize ASBG measurements or who have serious co-morbid illness (unstable cardiovascular disease, metastatic CA). Pregnant patients will also be excluded because of the more intense diabetic control they require.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Level of diabetic control as measured by 7-month HbA1c.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Compliance with testing.
Number of hypoglycemic episodes.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

July 1, 2003

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 1, 2005

Study Completion (Actual)

October 1, 2005

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 13, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 13, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

September 21, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

February 11, 2009

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 10, 2009

Last Verified

February 1, 2009

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Protocol # 03-004C
  • Contract #: 233-02-0077

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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