Self-monitoring of blood glucose is an important component of effective diabetes mellitus control

Diabetes mellitus (DM) falls into the category of socially significant non-communicable diseases. When ineffectively treated, DM can considerably worsen the patients’ quality of life due to the development of systemic vascular complications leading to disability and early death. Reduction of the risk of diabetic complications and mortality can only be achieved through multifaceted disease management. It is emphasized that DM is a chronic disease, and DM treatment represents the long-term, lifelong process that should involve both the physician and the patient him/herself. Selection of individual treatment targets and methods of glycemic control are discussed. The paper presents current understanding of blood glucose self-monitoring (SMBG), discloses its benefits in terms of DM control. The use of SMBG allows the physician to objectively assess the efficacy of the treatment prescribed and allows patients to become active contributors to the treatment process. The data are provided of the clinical trials focused on assessing the SMBG effectiveness. The role of SMBG in prevention of hypoglycemia is considered. Thorough SMBG makes it possible to prevent sharp blood glucose level fluctuations and to timely detect hypoglycemia. Attention is paid to the recommended SMBG rate depending on hypoglycemic therapy. The issues of glucose meter selection are considered. An important criterion for choosing the glucose meter is compliance with accuracy standards, convenience and ease of use. With advancement in technology improving blood glucose level measurement, the SMBG procedure becomes easier, which contributes to improvement of the hypoglycemic therapy efficacy and adherence to treatment.