New Performa meter

[kiwikid]

Rachels new meter arrived today - it looks good but I'm hearing conflicting stories about their accuracy.
Has anyone else got theirs and used it? 10 strips aren't going to last us long :rolleyes: but I think I'll use these 10 as well as old meter to see if there is much difference.
I'll have to get onto a new prescription :cwds:

[kiwikid]

Heres the link to the info about the new Performa compared to the Advantage:
http://www.accu-chek.co.nz/news/plasma_calibration_info.pdf :cwds:

if Rachel is 4. something on the new meter, does that mean shes really 3.something and should be treated as low? :rolleyes: She doesn't recognise lows all that often so it will be an interesting change :(

[hockey7]

I had exactly the same situation with the advantage and optimum meter so for a day i put the same blood into both the meters wow what a difference up to 4. sometimes....made me think so now me and kindy only use the one meter now...I would hate to think how unaccurate they are considering our kids are so young and it can make such a difference.....another question Does rachel have a teacher aid?..Matt is starting school next march and Im pushing for one at the school at the moment...even if its only from 11-2 hes does not recongize highs or lows and defintely does not know numbers....the pump is gonna be such alot of work for the teacher or office lady and I want him safe!!!! even though I know they will do there best hes going to be one of 30 and that scares me...

[kiwikid]

Hi Karen,

I've been testing both the Advantage and Exceed against the Performa.
So far the Exceed and the Performa are a couple of mmol higher than the advantage BUT they warn you about this in the literature (?sp).
It says that the Performa will be about 11% higher than the Advantage because it gives its reading as "plasma" rather than whole blood". The Exceed and Optium also read as "Plasma"

I LOVE the Performa so far for its tiny weeny sample and the 5 secs. I've even turned the MultiClix setting down as it uses so little blood. :)

Yes Rachel has a teacher aide, through the High Health Needs Fund. That means the school gets funding for her, they don't need to find money from their own funds. We had a meeting with the Special Ed funders, school and Diabetes Educators and we drew up a care plan for Rachel. Then we had another meeting with the 2 ladies who job-share Rachels aide position and worked it all through. It works really well now and I'm happy to leave Rachel to the care of the school.
We've had a couple of meetings since, with everyone involved there, and we've adapted a few things that needed updating or changing etc. We're due for another meeting at the end of this term as well. Rachel started with 25 hrs and is now at 15 hrs.
I can email you a copy of her Careplan if you'd like to take a look.

[hockey7]

yeah I would love to see a copy of her careplan..my computer is old, is it posssible to copy it into the email rather than an attachment as I cant open them... my email address is kbass@xtra.co.nz....otherwise if you could post it that would be great....

What hours did you start off with and also was it 5 days a week ...was it a hassle to get it?

We are just starting this process this week...and Id love to hear any tips in pushing for a teacher aid...

Thanks Karen:):):)

[DylansMum]

We are still waiting for the new Performa meter to arrive. We got info in the mail about a week ago advising it was being sent to us soon, but still haven't got it. When did you all get yours? I was told at Dylan's last clinic check back in March, his would be arriving in April, but we are still waiting....
Dylan has his next clinic check up next week, he has read all the guff on the new meter and is quite excited that his readings will only take 5 seconds!!...lol.

[hockey7]

I live in Howick and havent got mine yet neither has Ivans Mum aka Fran....

so I guess Auckland must be getting them a little later...:)

[Kristen]

I got mine a couple weeks ago. I'm still useing the Advantage because we still have another box of strips left. Its upsetting hearing all the bad things that are going on with the new meters. Should I check against my old meter too?

[kiwikid]

Hi Kristen, You can check it against your other meter but you are sure to get different results! I think its better to choose which meter you are going to use and stick with it - take into account the 11% difference - if you used to use "4" as the base for a hypo, you may have to change that to 4.5? I don't really know how to do it. It sure is an interesting exercise :rolleyes:

[kiwikid]

Herewith a brief update regarding the Performa meter I gleaned from the NZSSD meeting I attended by teleconference last Friday. Roche have now undertaken extensive local sampling regarding this meter and have concluded that the meter has a positive bias (ie can read higher than the stated average of 11% between the Advantage and the Performa). This positive bias however, is not high enough to demand a recall as the Performa results are within the ISO guidelines of +/- 20%. The Performa meter is in use in Australia, South Africa and the USA where Roche state they have not had the problems that have arisen in NZ. It appears that the issue may be with the strips rather than the meter itself. The are some experts coming out from Roche in Switzerland to look at the problem and in the meantime Roche have put the distribution of new meters on hold. One major problem is that low blood glucose levels (< 4.0) read 0.8 higher than the Advantage meter, ie a Performa reading of 3.7 equates to an Advantage reading of 2.9. There are some serious implications here regarding diagnosis and treatment of hypoglycaemia and I informed Nick Tunnicliff of Roche that this was of major concern to Diabetes Youth NZ and Diabetes NZ.

[hockey7]

Thats interesting .... I wondered why I had not received mine when heaps of other people have....so i phoned them today about 10.00am....and all they said was they would send me one out not that they had them on hold....but I guess I dont want one as Mattie gets low enough anyway....so I dont need a meter that reads higher....Thanks Jane for sending the carer application to me...it was really useful when I applied for a teacher aid this week...I copied quite a bit of it...Hope you dont mind but it was really accurate ....In that ..what the teachers have to do..

Thanks again..:)

[Ivan's Mum]

I got mine and immediatley loved it. In saying that I tested it against my xceed and it read differently. I can remember the difference thou. Except today my new 'red' one came in at 27 and my exceed came in at 22 and that's a pretty big difference (when you're weighing up the nacho's for dinner)

I'm going to keep seeing the difference and van is still in to maximum blood. I got some new test strips so maybe should crack them open to check that the sample lot aren't the problem.

Shall report my findings
Over and out

[kiwikid]

Come in Fran! Are you there :p

I just LOVE the tiny sample and the quick test - I'm gutted that the results aren't so good. They can vary from 25% to 45% higher than the old advantage. Roche are hoping its a strip problem and the meters are actually fine. I have an Exceed, but I don't like the rubbish from the strips so I've always preferred the Advantage. Even the Exceed seems to take a lot of blood after the Performa.

[Ivan's Mum]

I've never had a problem with the rubbish. I always put the gold packaging back on the strip before I pull it out of the meter. I like the fact that they're foiled and not exposed to the air all the time (or dropped over the sick bay floor!)

Tested Ivan from the same site today - xceed read 16 performa (or what ever it's called) read 21 that's a huge difference. I've always used the xceed but yeah, the sample seems huge now!

Not much else to report but am surprised that roche have not done a recall or even advised customers that the readings could be out. It's not like it's life or death I suppose.... yeah right!

[Ivan's Mum]

Okay I've got some of that meter tester stuff. I've tested all brands in this house.....

5.3 advantage
4.9 optium Xceed

12.2 performa:eek:

So when I first used the performa he was about 7 (and complaining of a hypo and I didn't believe him) lucky I let him eat anyhow.

So, question is why aren't roche letting everyone know that there's a problem with this meter and not to use it. THey've got all phone numbers of everyone who has one.

What's the story!:mad:

[kiwikid]

From NZSSD (New Zealand Society for the Study of Diabetes)
Approximately 15,000 Performa meters have been sent out to patients using AccuChek Advantage meters. These patients will be contacted by letter and informed that their meter new meter is reporting higher than true values. The patients will have the option of returning to using their Advantage meter. If they no longer have their Advantage meter Roche will provide one and a supply of strips. The Roche Diagnostics team in Indianapolis is undertaking further studies to determine what correction to the algorithm used is required to align the results with true venous plasma readings and will then build this into the calibration chips distributed with each pack of strips. Until that process is complete they will suspend their replacement programme. The NZSSD executive recommends that physicians and educators should suspend distribution of the new meters until the new supply of strips with correct calibration is available and should make their patients currently using the meter aware of the potential for the meter to report significantly higher readings affecting decisions on insulin dosing.

[Ivan's Mum]

I guess I can biff out the 4 boxes of stips I've got sitting on the kitchen window sill.

And you say the xceed creates waste LOL!!!!

[kiwikid]

I've got 10 :rolleyes:!!
It will be interesting to see how long it takes to get 'the letter'. It would be quicker to ring everyone - they don't seem in a hurry to get people off this meter.

Good Luck with the Lantus and Pumping, how did the birthday go?

[Ivan's Mum]

and they've know this is happening and are still sending meters and you can gets strips in the pharmacy. This is not good form really. It's messing with peoples health.

[kiwikid]

Some of this we have already seen, but the bottom part is new :cwds:

Accu-Chek Performa Blood Glucose Meter

Diabetes New Zealand has been advised by Roche Diagnostics, that following
significantly higher than expected readings from their new Performa meter,
they have undertaken a comprehensive investigation regarding this anomaly.
Roche Diagnostics have found that the meter has a consistent positive bias
when compared to venous plasma blood glucose measurements. They are
currently undertaking steps to correct this bias so that measurements will
align more closely with expected plasma blood glucose readings which should
average 11% higher than whole blood glucose as measured by the Accu-Chek
Advantage meter.

To date approximately 15,000 Accu-Chek Performa meters have been distributed
to people with diabetes who use Accu-Chek Advantage meters. Roche
diagnostics will inform these users (mainly those on insulin therapy) by
letter that their meter is likely to report higher than actual values and
that they have the option of resuming blood glucose testing with their
Advantage meter. If an advantage meter is no longer held, Roche Diagnostics
will provide one plus a supply of test strips. In this regard enquiries are
to be directed to Roche Diagnostics using their Freephone 0800 80 22 99.

Roche Diagnostics are undertaking studies to determine what action is
necessary to align results closer to actual venous plasma blood glucose
readings and will then build this into the calibration chip distributed with
each box of strips. Until this process has been completed (and this may take
up to three months) Roche Diagnostics have suspended deliveries of
replacement Performa meters.

Diabetes New Zealand recommends that users of the Performa meter contact
Roche Diagnostics or their healthcare provider should they have concerns
regarding their meter readings. Until such time as recalibrated test strips
are available, care needs to be exercised by users regarding self management
of blood glucose particularly regarding insulin dosage and possible
incidents of hypoglycaemia. Comparing results by using different meters is
not recommended as such results can vary widely due to several factors.
Those users who revert to measuring their blood glucose by using an
Advantage meter should retain their new Performa meter for future usage as
Advantage test strips, while still available, will no longer be funded after
1 April 2008.

[Francie]

Jane Fabian used his performa against the hospital advantage one and it was a lot higher so he is still using his old one and has trown the performa out as it was gving such a higher reading by at least 5 which is a lot meaning he would use more insulin. So I guess its just a preference thing.