Society of General Internal Medicine
View all recommendations from this societyReleased September 12, 2013; Revised January 31, 2017; Revised November 30, 2022
Don’t recommend daily home glucose monitoring in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus not using insulin.
Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is an integral part of patient self-management in maintaining safe and target-driven glucose control in type 1 diabetes mellitus. However, for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who are not on insulin or medications associated with hypoglycemia, daily glucose monitoring has been shown to have small statistically significant, but not clinically important, changes in glucose control, and small, but significant, patient harms are associated with daily glucose monitoring. SMBG as part of a structured program of education and medication modification should be reserved for patients during the titration of their medication doses or during periods of changes in patients’ diet and exercise routines.
These items are provided solely for informational purposes and are not intended as a substitute for consultation with a medical professional. Patients with any specific questions about the items on this list or their individual situation should consult their physician.
How The List Was Created
An ad hoc committee of the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) was impaneled, taking advantage of the clinical expertise of members from the Clinical Practice Committee and Evidence-Based Medicine Task Force within the Society. Members of the ad hoc committee were then solicited to determine possible topics for consideration. The topics chosen were selected to meet the goals of the Choosing Wisely campaign, utilizing the unique clinical perspective of members of the Society in ambulatory general medicine as well as hospital-based practice. The final topics were selected by a vote of committee members based on the strength of the existing evidence, the unique standing members of the Society have in addressing the clinical topics selected, as well as contributions the recommendations would make in terms of patient safety, quality and economic impact. The final recommendations were approved by the governing Council of SGIM.
For SGIM’s disclosure and conflict of interest policies, please visit www.sgim.org.
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