ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether weekly fructosamine testing at home by patients with type 2 diabetes, combined with therapeutic intervention when necessary on the basis of the results, would lead to improved glycemic control in comparison with usual care during a 3-month period. METHODS: In a prospective study, 25 patients with glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) values above 8.0% were randomized into 2 groups. Both groups, a glucose-only testing group (14 patients with an initial mean HbA1c of 9.4 +/- 0.9%) and a combined glucose plus fructosamine testing group (11 patients with an initial mean HbA1c of 9.2 +/- 0.7%), received therapeutic intervention at the time of randomization. Both groups were instructed to perform blood glucose testing up to four times per day. The combined glucose plus fructosamine testing group was also instructed to perform weekly fructosamine testing in addition to the glucose testing and to telephone the investigator if their home-testing fructosamine value exceeded 350 mmol/L (approximately equivalent to HbA1c of 7.8%), whereupon the investigator implemented further interventions. Both groups returned in 3 months, at which time HbA1c testing was repeated in order to determine whether glycemic control had changed. RESULTS: The study results after 3 months showed that the HbA1c values in the combined glucose plus fructosamine testing group decreased from 9.2 +/- 0.7% to 8.0 +/- 0.5% (P<0.0001). In contrast, the HbA1c values in the glucose-only testing group declined from 9.4 +/- 0.9% to 9.1 +/- 1.3%, a difference that was not significant. CONCLUSION: In the 3 months after a change in therapy for type 2 diabetes, weekly home testing of fructosamine, combined with therapeutic interventions based on the results, led to a more rapid and significant improvement in glycemic control than did the usual regimen of glucose-only testing.
