There’s been a lot of talk this past year about the opportunity wireless health could present for people with diabetes who already carry around self-monitoring devices: Why not use a better, connected one? Well, two studies published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal this month might have a reason: They conclude that blood glucose monitoring more often than seven times per week is not cost effective for Type 2 diabetics who do not take insulin.
According to one of the studies’ abstract: “For most patients with Type 2 diabetes not using insulin, use of blood glucose test strips for frequent self-monitoring (seven times per week) is unlikely to represent efficient use of finite health care resources, although periodic testing (one or two times per week) may be costeffective. Reduced test strip price would likely also improve cost-effectiveness.”
The study concluded that “based on a clinically modest reduction in hemoglobin A1C of 0.25% (95% confidence interval 0.15-0.36) estimated from the systematic review, the UKPDS model predicted that self-monitoring performed 7 or more times per week reduced the lifetime incidence of diabetes-related complications compared with no self-monitoring, albeit at a higher cost (incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year $113,643 [Canadian]).” That translates to about U.S. $107,000.
While the researchers note that lower test strip prices would obviously bring the cost down, we wonder whether enriching the experience and usefulness of routine testing could bring the value up?
For more on the studies, read this write-up over at Science Daily