Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose in Insulin-Requiring Type 2 Diabetes

The American Diabetes Association recommends that individuals with type 2 diabetes should utilize self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) as a means of assessing the efficacy of their medication to monitor for and prevent asymptomatic hypoglycemia, though the optimal frequency of SMBG and its impact in insulin-treated type 2 diabetes subjects have not been clearly defined. Only a minority of patients with type 2 diabetes performs SMBG, and there are several barriers to the increasing use of SMBG. In this article, we have reviewed some of the recently published studies looking at the relationship between the SMBG compliance and the glycosylated hemoglobin levels that emphasize that SMBG is an important determinant of glycemic control in insulin-treated type 2 diabetes.