Accuracy of glucose reflectance testing for detecting hypoglycemia in term newborns.

Glucose concentrations of 248 newborns at 1 and 3 hours of age were determined at the bedside by means of the Accu-Chek III Reflectance meter and in the laboratory by means of the Vitros 750 analyzer. Hypoglycemia being defined as a glucose concentration less than 40 mg/dL, the reflectance meter had a sensitivity of 0.757 and a specificity of 0.876 at 1 hour and 0.975 at 3 hours. The imprecision of the reflectance meter at 1 hour eliminated it as a routine testing method.