Rapid changes in postprandial blood glucose produce concentration differences at finger, forearm, and thigh sampling sites,” Diabetes Care 25(6

OBJECTIVE — To compare pre- and postmeal capillary blood glucose concentrations mea-sured at the finger, forearm, and thigh in adults with diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS — For phase 1, capillary blood glucose con-centrations were measured at six time points (premeal and at60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 min postmeal) using a blood glucose monitoring system and technician-obtained samples collected from finger, forearm, and thigh sites of 42 adults with diabetes. The finger samples were also tested with a laboratory instrument. For phase 2,14 weeks later, the testing procedures were repeated with 38 subjects from the original study population. RESULTS — Meter finger results were accurate at all time points. Alternate sites tended to produce lower glucose readings compared to finger readings at times when glucose was increas-ing rapidly (60 and 90 min postmeal). Forearm-to-finger differences correlated with rates of glucose change (r 0.56, P 0.001), as did the thigh-to-finger differences (r 0.52, P 0.001). Other factors, such as subject age, BMI, diabetes type, and insulin dependence did not have a significant impact on site differences. When the testing procedures were repeated with the same subjects, the pattern of site differences was consistent, although individual results wer