Journal article
Sabrina Rhode, Lisa Rogge, Marthoenis Marthoenis, Till Seuring, Hendra Zufry, Till Bärnighausen, Hizir Sofyan, Jennifer Manne-Goehler, Sebastian Vollmer
Communications Medicine, 2025
Communications Medicine, 2025
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APA
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Rhode, S., Rogge, L., Marthoenis, M., Seuring, T., Zufry, H., Bärnighausen, T., … Vollmer, S. (2025). Real-world smartphone-based point-of-care diagnostics in primary health care to monitor HbA1c levels in people with diabetes. Communications Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-025-00743-8
Chicago/Turabian
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Rhode, Sabrina, Lisa Rogge, Marthoenis Marthoenis, Till Seuring, Hendra Zufry, Till Bärnighausen, Hizir Sofyan, Jennifer Manne-Goehler, and Sebastian Vollmer. “Real-World Smartphone-Based Point-of-Care Diagnostics in Primary Health Care to Monitor HbA1c Levels in People with Diabetes.” Communications Medicine (2025).
MLA
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Rhode, Sabrina, et al. “Real-World Smartphone-Based Point-of-Care Diagnostics in Primary Health Care to Monitor HbA1c Levels in People with Diabetes.” Communications Medicine, 2025, doi:10.1038/s43856-025-00743-8.
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@article{sabrina2025a,
title = {Real-world smartphone-based point-of-care diagnostics in primary health care to monitor HbA1c levels in people with diabetes},
year = {2025},
journal = {Communications Medicine},
doi = {10.1038/s43856-025-00743-8},
author = {Rhode, Sabrina and Rogge, Lisa and Marthoenis, Marthoenis and Seuring, Till and Zufry, Hendra and Bärnighausen, Till and Sofyan, Hizir and Manne-Goehler, Jennifer and Vollmer, Sebastian}
}
Abstract
Background The lack of accurate and affordable monitoring of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is a common issue among patients with diabetes in low- and middle-income countries. We aimed to test a tablet- and smartphone-based point-of-care (TSB POC) device against a local laboratory-based measure of HbA1c for monitoring diabetes under real-world conditions.
Methods For this cross-sectional clinical method applicability study, capillary and venous blood was collected in duplicate and analyzed at local primary health care centers. For a heterogeneity test, the tests were performed by an expert, and by a team of local nurses. The study was conducted in a multicenter design in rural and urban Aceh, Indonesia in 2019, and included a total of 533 adults. We mainly used Bland-Altman plots to assess the number of readings within the 95%-limits of agreement (LoA) and Deming regressions.
Results The results show a mean difference between capillary HbA1c on the test device and the reference method of −0.54 [CI0.95 = −1.6933; 0.6048] with 5.21% of measurements outside the LoA and a Pearson’s r = 0.91 in the Deming Regression. There is no significant difference in test concordance between local nurses and the expert (4.23% versus 5.13% results outside the LoA [CI0.95 = −0.0331; 0.0511]).
Conclusions TSB POC for analysis of HbA1c is an acceptable alternative for accessible monitoring of diabetes patients under these conditions. This method could provide access to high-quality diagnostic decisions through regular and cost-effective HbA1c monitoring directly in healthcare facilities, thus providing better access to essential health services.
Background The lack of accurate and affordable monitoring of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is a common issue among patients with diabetes in low- and middle-income countries. We aimed to test a tablet- and smartphone-based point-of-care (TSB POC) device against a local laboratory-based measure of HbA1c for monitoring diabetes under real-world conditions.
Methods For this cross-sectional clinical method applicability study, capillary and venous blood was collected in duplicate and analyzed at local primary health care centers. For a heterogeneity test, the tests were performed by an expert, and by a team of local nurses. The study was conducted in a multicenter design in rural and urban Aceh, Indonesia in 2019, and included a total of 533 adults. We mainly used Bland-Altman plots to assess the number of readings within the 95%-limits of agreement (LoA) and Deming regressions.
Results The results show a mean difference between capillary HbA1c on the test device and the reference method of −0.54 [CI0.95 = −1.6933; 0.6048] with 5.21% of measurements outside the LoA and a Pearson’s r = 0.91 in the Deming Regression. There is no significant difference in test concordance between local nurses and the expert (4.23% versus 5.13% results outside the LoA [CI0.95 = −0.0331; 0.0511]).
Conclusions TSB POC for analysis of HbA1c is an acceptable alternative for accessible monitoring of diabetes patients under these conditions. This method could provide access to high-quality diagnostic decisions through regular and cost-effective HbA1c monitoring directly in healthcare facilities, thus providing better access to essential health services.