Effect of alcohol swabbing on capillary blood glucose measurements

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the effects of alcohol swabbing on reagent strip blood glucose (BG) measurements using Reflolux and Glucometer GX meters and the Exac Tech Pen. Sixty subjects were randomly allocated to one of the three meters. Each had three separate fingerpricks after either swabbing with 70% isopropyl alcohol and testing immediately or after drying for two minutes; or after no preparation; (n=180). BG was also determined at alcohol concentrations of 0%, 1%, 5%, 10% and 20% on hypo (1.2 mmol/l), normo (4.0 mmol/l) and hyperglycaemic (>28 mmol/) blood in vitro (six strips/meter/concentration, n=270). Increasing concentrations of alcohol caused reduction of BG at all glycaemias using the two meters (p=<0.01) (ANOVA). At alcohol concentrations of 20% the pen showed an increase of 1.5 mmol/l at euglycaemia, and an increase of 2.7 mmol/l into the normal range at hypoglycaemia (<2 mmol). Alcohol concentrations of blood in vitro caused inaccuracies in reagent strip BG readings. The errors varied with the type of meter, decreasing with reflectance meters, and increasing with the pen. In practice, however, swabbing with alcohol prior to testing had no effect on meter accuracy in the clinical setting.

Interfering Effect of Alcohol Swabbing on Capillary Blood Glucose Concentration Using a Glucometer: A Brief Report

“…Results of the study showed that there was no significant difference between the three methods. In a study conducted by Dunning et al (21), blood glucose of 911 patients was measured with a glucometer in two ways: Before evaporation of alcohol and after evaporation of alcohol. Results indicated that there was no significant difference between the two methods.…”

The Medical Deconfounder: Assessing Treatment Effects with Electronic Health Records

“…Isopropyl alcohol is not a medication but an ingredient in alcohol-based sanitizers that are commonly used to clean patients' skin before a blood test. A few studies were found addressing concerns about the interference of isopropyl alcohol on the accuracy of blood glucose test, but results are inconsistent among the studies (Mahoney et al, 2011;Dunning et al, 1994). There exists little literature about aluminum hydroxide and oxycodone on their association with blood glucose.…”