This study compared patients’ uptake of publicly funded blood glucose test strips in New Zealand against published consensus guidelines on appropriate rates of usage. An audit identified an estimated 183,000 patients who were dispensed diabetes medicines and/or self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) test strips between 1 January and 31 December 2011. Approximately 122,000 of these patients received the same script combination in the first and fourth quarter of the 2011 year and were identified as ‘steady-state’ (stabilised) patients. The audit revealed both under- and over-dispensing of test strips among different patient groups; e.g., overall test strip dispensing in stabilised patients was apparently 8% less than what was expected. Notably, Māori and Pacific peoples in the 25–44-year age group were appreciably under-dispensed in some insulin-containing regimens and a high over-dispensing was observed among patients using metformin alone or on no diabetic medication. Patient numbers and median ages varied widely across treatment groups and by gender and ethnicity.
