RESUMEN
Home glucose monitoring is an opportunity for patients with type II diabetes to control their own blood glucose and health, testing blood glucose at home helps to prevent the immediate and potentially serious consequences of very high or very low blood glucose levels. This study aimed at ascertaining diabetic patients performance of home blood glucose monitoring [SMBG], its perceived benefits, and its effectiveness in controlling type II diabetes mellitus. A cross sectional study was conducted on a 300 type II diabetic patients who follow up in the diabetes clinics at two university hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected through a structured interview questionnaire and records review. Out of the total 300 diabetic patients, 145 [48.3%] use SMBG and 51.7% of them used it according to the doctors advice, and 52.4% of them checked it by themselves. Only 55.2% received education about use SMBG. Educational level and employment were significantly related to SMBG. Most of the patients [66.3%] who had SMBG presented with normal HbA1c range [OR=4.86, 95% Cl= 2.37-10.28]. The study provide a proof supporting effectiveness of SMBG for diabetic patients, however, it recommends to launch further in depth research to provide evidence about the effectiveness of self-monitoring and identify patients who might derive most benefit from different froms of blood glucose monitoring