Anonymous Survey about Home Testing

[pem]

Hi. As many of you know, I am a mech-valve-carrying member of this community. I am interested in answering the question of how accurate home monitors are. To help with this, I've created a survey using "surveymonkey.com". If you have done any "parallel tests" in which you tested at home using a home monitor and at the lab in the same day and know what the two results were, please try my survey. At the end of the survey I will post the aggregate (combined) results to this forum for the benefit of everyone. Also, if you know any other relevant places to post the survey link - please do!

It is an anonymous survey - it doesn't ask for your name or any identifying information. This would be a great help to the community of people who home test. I thank you very much in advance.

Here's the survey link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MTHNLFK

Again, please feel free to share the link where you think it will reach the most people who use home monitors.

Thanks again,
pem

 

[Freddie]

No secret that I've been comparing for a couple of years. But there seems to be a problem with the programing when one enters the results and press 'Done', it comes back and in red it reads: Please enter a positive number.

I'm using Firefox, will using Chrome make a difference?

 

[Protimenow]

Browsers probably DO make a difference. I usually use Maxthon - based on Internet Explorer - and there are a lot of things that it won't do. I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't work well with Survey Monkey.

Pem: I'm glad to see that you're running this survey. Have you thought about broadening it to include different METERS at the same time? I've encountered some scary variations between my InRatio and the ProTime meter (and compared the ProTime to the CoaguChek S in the past). There's a question, too, about lab accuracy -- a couple weeks ago, I got a 2.9 from one lab and a 3.6 from another lab that took a sample a couple hours earlier.

 

[pem]

Browsers probably DO make a difference. I usually use Maxthon - based on Internet Explorer - and there are a lot of things that it won't do. I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't work well with Survey Monkey.

Pem: I'm glad to see that you're running this survey. Have you thought about broadening it to include different METERS at the same time? I've encountered some scary variations between my InRatio and the ProTime meter (and compared the ProTime to the CoaguChek S in the past). There's a question, too, about lab accuracy -- a couple weeks ago, I got a 2.9 from one lab and a 3.6 from another lab that took a sample a couple hours earlier.

Hi there! Thanks. Hey - did you eat or drink anything between the two lab tests? Do you recall which lab companies the two labs were from?

Good idea to expand to different meters. That's a future survey.
Best,
pem

 

[pem]

No secret that I've been comparing for a couple of years. But there seems to be a problem with the programing when one enters the results and press 'Done', it comes back and in red it reads: Please enter a positive number.

I'm using Firefox, will using Chrome make a difference?

Rats! Sorry about the data entry problems. Can you use IE? If not, maybe you could just send me a private message on the forum. The survey only accepts 3 pairs of home/lab tests. But in a private message you could post all your data, if you are willing. I'd be grateful and certainly share any results or insights I get from it.

Thanks!
pem

 

[Protimenow]

Internet Explorer also got the error.
Also -- the survey is pretty limiting. I've got more than three compared results -- and my most recent tests used two or more different meters, in addition to the labs.

And -- do you want comparisons to a blood draw in a lab that used the Hemochron meter?

 

[pem]

Internet Explorer also got the error.
Also -- the survey is pretty limiting. I've got more than three compared results -- and my most recent tests used two or more different meters, in addition to the labs.

And -- do you want comparisons to a blood draw in a lab that used the Hemochron meter?

Sorry - I am new to SurveyMonkey. Not sure why it isn't working for you.

Could you send me a private message that includes all of your same-day paired comparisons. If any were done within an hour of each other, please indicate that too. Same for Freddie.

Thanks a lot,
pem

 

[Freddie]

Already done Pem, watch for a PM.
All my tests were done within an hour.

One thing to keep note of, is that the lab are allowed to have variance of .2 +/-. Well........that's the standard here in Canada.
The lab does 3 separate tests from your vein sample then averages the 3 tests out to get your INR result.

 

[Protimenow]

It's my understanding, too, that the reagents can vary a lot - and that the labs calculate INRs based on values of the reagent. There may be more error when the INR is calculated by a lab that uses a reagent with a high value, than one with a reagent near 1.0 (from what I've been reading).

Pem -- I'll send you what I've got a bit later.

 

[marc_kowal]

Yesterday I just started tracking the variance between my Inratio2 and the lab. The tests were done within five minutes of each other.
Inratio2- 2.4
Lab Test- 2.2

 

[Protimenow]

I just received a link to an interesting page that looks at POC and lab values -- http://www.clotcare.org/faq_inrreliability.aspx.

I'm glad to see such that Marc had such a close match.

(My last test on Monday was a 1.5 on my ProTime 3 (repeated an hour apart, with the same result), and a 3.1 on my InRatio. This is kind of troubling -- I'm choosing, for now, to trust that I'm somewhere range of 2.4-2.8, based on the InRatio's historic 'error.' Yesterday, the hospital lab took another INR (a different issue brought me to the hospital, and they just added this test). I'm testing in a while - less than 24 hours after the lab, just to get a sense of the comparison 21 hours apart).

 

[marc_kowal]

I did another self check yesterday. Blood samples were taken within 5 mins of each other.
Inratio2- 2.8
Lab Test- 2.4

So based on the two self checks I have done so far, it seems that the InRatio2 measures 0.2 - 0.4 points higher then a lab draw. Makes me feel good that's the numbers are pretty close. I'll probably continue to do something like this once a month, as this will be a good way to make sure my home unit isn't out of calibration.