Assessment of blood glucose self-monitoring skills in a camp for diabetic children: the effects of individualized feedback counselling.

Abstract

We report a study of the accuracy and precision of blood glucose self-monitoring by children and adolescents attending a diabetic summer camp, and of the efficacy of feed-back counselling aimed at correcting identified problems. Of 96 eligible campers, 71 were enrolled. Of those, 41 were found to test with random error > 20% or systemic error > 10% and were randomized into control (n = 19) and intervention (n = 20) groups. Intervention consisted of one or two 15- to 30-min individualized sessions that involved testing under supervision, corrections of errors, and discussion of the importance of correct testing. Group sessions were also given on the same aspects. Re-testing at the end of camp revealed only marginal changes in the results for either group. Evaluation during counselling indicated that most problems were not due to lack of knowledge of the skills involved. We concluded that poor blood glucose monitoring by children and adolescents results most frequently from poor attitude rather than lack of skill.