guidelines for monitoring diabetes - by patient or carer
Last reviewed 01/2018
Monitoring diabetic control is important for all patients.
Several factors will influence the method and frequency of diabetic monitoring:
- patient motivation - perhaps the most important factor; push some patients too hard and they may stop monitoring.
- familiarity with the illness - new diabetics will need to monitor their illness more frequently until they develop confidence about their illness and how life factors affect their control
- intercurrent illness - whenever a patient feels ill or develops an illness they should increase their diabetic control monitoring.
- change in usual daily routine - patients who have a day when they have more exercise or when they eat at different times of the day will need to monitor their control more carefully.
- severity and type of illness - insulin dependent diabetics need to be more aware of their illness to avoid hyoglycaemia - brittle diabetics will need tighter control
- understanding of problem by patient - monitoring control is quite complex and so may require help from carers