Fingerstick cholesterol test accuracy

Type 1 & LADA
1

This is my experience with the accuracy of the pharmacy fingerstick cholesterol tests…

Because I get my prescriptions on a 3 month schedule, and the pharmacy has a minute-clinic inside, I started doing the fingerstick cholesterol tests. Seemed very easy and it was totally covered by insurance. So why not?

I was puzzled at why my triglycerides had spiked up so much. They went up about 100 points. They were still in the target range, but such a big jump was concerning. Every single time they were up about 100 points from what my previous 6 years had been.

I emailed a cardiologist who replied that since they were in range I should not worry about it.

But still, a 100 point jump in such a short time seemed significant, so I asked about the sudden increase. Again I was told, “in range, don’t worry about it”.

I asked if the fingerstick tests were less accurate, and all he had to say was…you guessed it - “in range, don’t worry about it”. :roll_eyes:

Finally, I decided I would do something to figure it out myself. I got a fingerstick cholesterol test and a vein-drawn cholesterol blood test at the same time.

Doing them at the same time, the test results should be close.

The LDL, HDL, and total cholesterol numbers were similar. But the triglyceride numbers were 99 points apart! (They were 99 points higher on the fingerstick test.)

So maybe it is just the particular type of fingerstick test machine my pharmacy uses. Or maybe it is my particular pharmacy that has a bad machine. Or perhaps the fingerstick tests in general are just not very accurate for triglycerides. I am not sure, but from my perspective, I won’t be wasting time with the fingerstick cholesterol tests anymore.

Your results may vary. But please let me know if you have had those tests done and what your experience has been with it.

2 Likes
2

All valid possibilities. Calibration of lab machines is a big deal.

Even very large commercial national labs have had problems from time to time regarding calibration.

1 Like
3

I don’t know much about these things, but I have heard they’re very unreliable, and the the results can be difficult to interpret accurately anyway. The last one I did was ridiculous, and it also requires significantly more blood than my a1c tests do. It was so much, in fact, that when I told my husband it was his turn, he ran out the door and over the hill. :grin::rofl:

Anyway, I’ll go check in with my resident cholesterol guru and see what she knows about them, but I think they’re bad news.

1 Like
4

“In range, don’t worry about it…”

Probably not what we usually want to hear if we’ve bothered to ask the question… but very often it’s acfually the right answer when it comes to medicine and physiology.

I’ve had real lab draw and finger stick lipid tests be off that much in short proximity… it’s a very inexact field of medicine. But if it’s in range, don’t worry about it…

5

I know i need to watch my profanity so I’ll put it this way: WTF?

Is it the LDX machine? (Does both a1c and cholesterol) I had that at my past endo and my current doctor apparently uses it too for a1c when not doing other lab work…idk if I trusted it or not but I previously had lab drawn cholesterol and a1cs taken and it was pretty close? My cholesterol has always been pretty good overall and so has my a1c so it’s hard for me to figure out and I often question if this crap’s accurate or if I’m somehow just really good at things lol.

6

I don’t remember the brand of the cholesterol machine, but I can check next time I am there.