What Primary Care Providers Can Do to Address Barriers to Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose

Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) can be instrumental in achieving glycemic control in individuals with type 1^1,2 or type 2^3–8 diabetes. SMBG can help people with diabetes understand the effects of food and exercise on blood glucose and assist them to make healthy choices; provide insights to patients and clinicians concerning the effectiveness of therapies; and provide direction in efforts to achieve and maintain glycemic control.^5,9–11

SMBG will be most effective in improving glycemic control among individuals with diabetes who have learned appropriate self-management actions to take on the basis of SMBG results and who undertake such actions consistently.^2,5 Despite the substantial potential benefits of SMBG, however, adherence to recommended frequency and patterns of self-monitoring is suboptimal and inconsistent among many individuals with diabetes.^5,9–11

A fundamental goal of the clinical management of diabetes involves facilitating diabetes self-care practices that lead to positive health outcomes.¹² SMBG is seen as a tool that can provide useful information to patients and health care providers (HCPs), assisting patients to become active self-managers and HCPs to make timely and informed treatment adjustments to optimize therapy and improve metabolic outcomes.¹³ The International Diabetes Federation supports this concept in the first recommendation of its Guideline on Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose in Non–Insulin-Treated Type 2 Diabetes, which states, “SMBG should be used only when individuals with diabetes (and/or their caregivers) and/or their HCPs have the knowledge, skills, and willingness to incorporate SMBG monitoring and therapy adjustment into their diabetes care plan in order to attain agreed treatment goals.”¹⁴

The aim of SMBG is to facilitate timely clinical interventions to achieve or maintain blood glucose within an acceptable target range and to assist individuals with diabetes …