Point-of-care testing in diabetes management

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) has rapidly increased over the last decades, reaching epidemic magnitudes, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Point-of-care (POC) technology enables decision making near or at the site of patient care. Portable blood glucose meters and HbA1c testing are used by the healthcare provider and millions of patients with diabetes to monitor the safety and effectiveness of the diabetes treatment. However, POC capillary blood glucose and POC HbA1c testing are not recommended for diabetes diagnosis. Rather, they have been used for screening diabetes in low- and middle-income countries to decrease the disease burden.