Precision and accuracy of a point of care glucometer for detection of hypoglycaemia in horses

Kristopher Hughes; Claire Moore; Sophie Woods; Edwina Wilkes

doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2024.106109

Precision and accuracy of a point of care glucometer for detection of hypoglycaemia in horses

Vet J. 2024 Apr 8:106109. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2024.106109. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Kristopher Hughes¹, Claire Moore², Sophie Woods², Edwina Wilkes²

Affiliations

¹ School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Locked Bag 588, Boorooma Street, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678 Australia. Electronic address: krhughes@csu.edu.au.
² School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Locked Bag 588, Boorooma Street, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678 Australia.

PMID: 38599544
DOI: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2024.106109

Abstract

Point-of-care (POC) glucometry is commonly used in horses; however, measurement error with this method when analysing hypoglycaemic samples (<4mmol/L) is unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the precision and accuracy of glucometry in hypoglycaemic horses in comparison to a laboratory method of glucose measurement (LAB). Repeatability coefficients were 0.47mmol/L for POC and 0.09mmol/L for LAB, and coefficients of variation were 10% and 2.11%, for the POC and LAB methods, respectively. Systemic bias with the POC method was present, with a mean bias of -0.26mmol/L (95% limits of agreement: -0.88 - 0.37) in comparison to LAB, and <70% of measurements were within 20% of paired LAB results. Prior to use of glucometers, assessment of the diagnostic performance of the equipment is necessary, including determination of acceptable criteria and reference ranges for hypoglycaemic samples.

Keywords: Agreement; Equine; Glucometer; Measurement error; Repeatability.