Aim To assess the clinical performance and patient acceptance of HemaSpot TM blood collection devices as an alternative blood collection method. Methods Adult men and women with any type of diabetes, routinely carrying out self-monitoring of blood glucose were recruited (n = 128). Participants provided a venous blood sample and prepared two HemaSpot dried blood spots, one at clinics and one at home. HbA 1c analysis was by Tosoh G8 high-performance liquid chromatography. Participants also completed a questionnaire. Results Strong linear relationships been HbA 1c levels in dried blood spots and venous blood were observed and a linear model was fitted to the data. Time between dried blood spot preparation and testing did not impact the model. Participants were accepting of the approach: 69.2% would use this system if available and 60.7% would be more likely to use this system than going to their general practitioner. Conclusions The combination of a robust desiccating dried blood spot device, home sample preparation and return by post produces HbA 1c data that support the use of a time-independent linear calibration of dried blood spot to venous blood HbA 1c. A robust remote sample collection service would be valuable to people living with diabetes in urban areas who are working or house-bound as well as those living in remote or rural locations.
volumetric absorptive microsampling (VAMS)] as an alternative for HbA 1c monitoring in a home-sampling context [2]. Although the reports cited in the discussion are almost the same as those cited by us, our study was apparently missed, despite showing great resemblance to the authors' work. It is particularly relevant that we also used a questionnaire to conclude that patients preferred the alternative sampling technique over traditional blood sampling. We regret that Hall et al. were apparently not up-to-date with the literature. Regarding the statement 'the combination of a robust desiccating DBS device, home sample preparation and return by post, to our knowledge has not been reported for HbA 1c ', we wish to point out that we have already reported on this subject, although using DBS and VAMS rather than Hema-Spot. In addition, in the study by Fokkema et al. [6], HbA 1c results obtained in unsupervised home-sampled DBS were compared with venous samples taken by laboratory personnel.
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