Study of data obtained in the evaluation of two portable glucometers for human use in dogs

Abstract

• The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of two portable human-use glucometers compared to the enzymatic-colorimetric reference method. Blood glucose concentration is one of the main mechanisms of hormonal homeostasis, which is one of the most worrying factors in the veterinary clinical routine. Although glucometers are of human origin, they have shown great potential due to their speed and practicality. Therefore, evaluating them for use in the veterinary routine becomes essential, as different concentrations of glucose in the blood between humans and animals can affect reliability and generate discrepant results when using these devices. Thirty-two blood samples from canine patients referred from the clinical routine of the Unigranrio Veterinary Hospital in Duque de Caxias, RJ, were evaluated. Two devices (Accu-chek guide® and On call plus ІІ®) were evaluated, using statistical tests such as D'Agostino for data normality; analyzes of measures of central tendency; elaboration of scatter plots to visualize the data in comparison with the reference method; t (student) method for independent data, whose purpose was to assess whether there was a significant difference between the means of the samples used. The ISO 15197:2013 standard was also used, which stipulates stricter limits for the evaluation of a glucometer, exposing the accuracy of the device and its effectiveness. It was observed that the Accu-chek guide® was the one that did not present statistically significant differences compared to the reference method and whose variances were lower than the On call plus ІІ® glucometer, proving to be a device with good performance and more accurate use clinic in dogs.