Economic and Clinical Aspects of Diabetes Regarding Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose

Diabetes is a worldwide, pandemic disease, and the increasing financial burden to health care systems is a global challenge. Direct costs for treatment of type 2 diabetes reach up to 10% of total national health care spending, summing up to a range of $4,000–7,000 US on average per patient per year, and have increased to $174 billion annually in the United States (according to the latest American Diabetes Association-sponsored study in 2008). Costs for pharmaceutical strategies and treatment of diabetes-related complications largely contribute to the expenditures. Initiation of multifactorial interventions targeting optimization of metabolic control, treatment of hypertension, and dyslipidemia has been demonstrated to prevent complications of diabetes. Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is a key element for a successful management of diabetes. SMBG has been shown to effectively optimize metabolic control in diabetes patients with and without insulin therapy. In guidelines for management of diabetes, SMBG is recognized as an important approach for improving the outcome in individuals with diabetes. Current literature indicates that SMBG is highly valuable and characterized by an excellent “value for money” relationship.