Type 2 Diabetes: Preventing Complications

Interviews with Four Users of Blood Glucose Meters
By Mark Uslan, Karla Schnell, and Angie Spiker
[Editor’s Note: The availability of the following meters may vary. For more information, contact the manufacturer.]

We visited four visually impaired users of blood glucose meters to observe how they used their meters and to interview them. All four have had diabetes for over 20 years and experience fluctuation in their remaining vision. One person was visited at her place of employment, and three were visited at home.

One person tests her blood six to eight times a day. She uses two meters, the Accu-Chek Voicemate at home, and the Accu-Chek Complete outside her home, because she thinks that the Voicemate is too bulky to take anywhere. To read results on the Accu-Chek Complete, she either uses her closed-circuit television (CCTV) or her vision, when possible, or asks someone to read it. She wishes the Accu-Chek Advantage were smaller and the Accu-Chek Complete would have speech output.

Two people use the Glucometer Elite from Bayer. One of the two tests his blood once a day and uses his vision to read the results. He likes using the code key to calibrate the meter and being able to apply more blood after the initial application, but he wishes his meter had a larger screen. The other person tests her blood four times a day and uses her CCTV to read the results. She likes the code key feature and the capillary strip feature. She wishes her meter had speech output.

The fourth person uses the One Touch SureStep from LifeScan. She tests her blood once a day and gets help doing it six days a week. On the one day a week she tests her blood independently, she uses a magnifier to read the results, but has some difficulty getting blood on the test strip. Sometimes she has to repeat testing up to three times. She wishes the process were easier.

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