Should fingerstick blood glucose tests be performed on patients who have altered mentation or who just do not “seem right”?
Facilities may wish to consider incorporating blood glucose testing in the assessment of patients with altered mentation and in patients who have a change of condition. • What tests need to be performed in order to determine whether a patient has diabetes? If it is suspected that a patient has undiagnosed diabetes, the physician may wish to order a fasting or casual blood glucose test. Further tests may need to be performed based upon the results. • On what criteria would the diagnosis of diabetes in an older adult be based? The diagnosis of diabetes in an older adult should be based on the widely accepted criteria developed by the American Diabetes Association. This criteria includes fasting plasma glucose, casual plasma glucose and oral glucose tolerance. • Has a threshold glucose level at which adverse effects of diabetes appears been defined? The threshold glucose level at which adverse effects of diabetes appears has not been defined. Patients with blood glucose levels consistentl
