Research
Adherence
Providing free blood glucose testing strips significantly increases the frequency of SMBG and the likelihood of moving to the action stage, particularly when combined with a behavioral intervention.
Financial barriers to testing supplies can prevent patients from monitoring their blood sugar. Providing free strips significantly increases testing frequency and helps patients move from 'thinking about changing' to 'actually doing it,' especially when paired with behavioral support.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
This study also demonstrated the potentiating effects of access to free testing strips on both PTC and TAU interventions. Access to supplies does impact frequency of SMBG, and testing frequency improves HbA1c.
Why this rating
Randomized factor within the RCT.
Source
Changes in Diabetes Self-Care Behaviors Make a Difference in Glycemic Control
Helen Jones et al. · Diabetes Care · 2003
DOI 10.2337/diacare.26.3.732
rct · n=1029Cited 308×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- A stage-matched behavioral intervention (Pathways To Change) significantly increases the likelihood of patients moving to action/maintenance stages for self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG), healthy eating, and smoking cessation compared to Treatment As Usual (TAU).Good
- Moving to an action stage for Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose (SMBG) and healthy eating leads to a significant reduction in HbA1c, whereas intention-to-treat analysis of the intervention alone did not reach statistical significance.Good
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