Relationship between self-monitoring of blood glucose and glycaemic control among patients attending a specialist diabetes clinic in Jamaica

Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is recommended as an integral part of diabetes management. This study aimed to estimate the frequency of SMBG among patients attending a specialist diabetes clinic in Jamaica and to evaluate whether SMBG was associated with better glycaemic control. This cross-sectional study analyzed data from 188 patients, randomly selected from the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) Diabetes Clinic. Self-reported data on blood glucose testing was obtained by a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) was measured from a capillary blood sample. Linear and logistic regression analyses were used to determine the relationship between SMBG and glycaemic control. Among 188 participants (145 females, 43 males, mean age 56 +/- 15 years), 60 % (95%CI 52-67 %) performed SMBG. Thirty-one percent of participants monitored their blood glucose at least once daily. Participants less than 40 years old, persons with post-secondary education and those taking insulin were more likely to perform SMBG. Multivariable linear regression showed that performing SMBG was associated with a lower HbA1c after adjusting for age, sex and insulin use (beta = -0.102), p = 0.004). In multivariable logistic regression models adjusted for the same variables, SMBG was also associated with lower odds of having poor glycemic control [HbA1c > 9 %], OR 0.20, p < 0.001. This study shows that SMBG is associated with lower HbA1c and decreased odds of poor glycaemic control.