ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the delivery of secondary care services. Self-collection of capillary blood at home can facilitate the monitoring of patients with chronic disease to support virtual clinics while mitigating the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the comparability of whole blood capillary and plasma venous samples for 15 routinely used biochemical analytes and to develop and pilot a user-friendly home-collection kit to support virtual outpatient clinical services. METHODS: To investigate the comparability of whole blood capillary and plasma venous samples for 15 routinely requested biochemical analytes, simultaneous samples of venous and capillary blood were collected in EDTA and lithium-heparin plasma separation tubes that were of 4-6 mL and 400-600 µL draw volume, respectively. Venous samples were analysed within 4 h of collection while capillary samples were kept at ambient temperature for three days until centrifugation and analysis. Analyte results that were comparable between the matrices were then piloted in a feasibility study in three outpatient clinical services. RESULTS: HbA1c, lipid profile and liver function tests were considered comparable and piloted in the patient feasibility study. The home-collect kit demonstrated good patient usability. CONCLUSION: Home collection of capillary blood could be a clinically-useful tool to deliver virtual care to patients with chronic disease.
Subject(s)
Blood Chemical Analysis/methods , Blood Specimen Collection/methods , COVID-19/blood , Pandemics , SARS-CoV-2 , Adult , Blood Chemical Analysis/instrumentation , Blood Specimen Collection/instrumentation , Capillary Tubing , Feasibility Studies , Female , Humans , London , Male , Middle Aged , Phlebotomy/instrumentation , Phlebotomy/methods , Pilot Projects , Remote Consultation , Self Care/instrumentation , Self Care/methods , Surveys and QuestionnairesSubject(s)
Acupuncture Therapy/adverse effects , Mastodynia/therapy , Needles/adverse effects , Self Care/methods , Skin Diseases, Infectious/etiology , Acupuncture Therapy/instrumentation , Adult , COVID-19 , Female , Humans , Needles/microbiology , Postpartum Period , Pregnancy , SARS-CoV-2 , Self Care/instrumentationABSTRACT
SARS-CoV-2 pandemic had changed self-care in diabetes. The aim of this work is to analyze the effect of lockdown on glycemic control in people with type 1 diabetes on multiple daily insulin injections using FGM. During lockdown no deleterious effect on glycemic control measured by FGM.