Evaluation of the Cardiochek Portable Whole Blood Analyser for Use in the Fitness Industry

Williams AD, Ahuja KDK, Brickwood K, Fell JW. Evaluation of the CardioChek Portable Whole Blood Analyzer for Use in the Fitness Industry. JEPonline 2011;14(6):62-71. Pre-exercise screening questionnaires assist in determining the risk of a cardiovascular event occurring during exercise. The purpose of this study was to assess the CardioChek (CC) analyzer for suitability in pre-exercise risk screening and the ongoing assessment of risk factors associated with lifestyle interventions. Eighty-four apparently healthy subjects provided a venous blood sample for laboratory testing and CC analysis and a finger prick sample for analysis with the CC. The CC results and laboratory values were compared for accuracy, precision, and level of bias. Frequencies and percentages of samples outside pre-identified critical values for each measured variable were compared across the different methods of data collection. Multiple samples were collected from a subset of 30 participants for determination of technical error of measurement and precision. The observed bias for the CC capillary method compared to the laboratory method was -18% for total cholesterol, -35% for HDL, and -14.8% for blood glucose. The technical error of measurement for total cholesterol was 0.42 mmol·L-1 (10.5%), HDL cholesterol was 0.14 mmol·L-1 (14.1%), and blood glucose was 0.25 mmol·L-1 (5.7%). The CardioChek may be acceptable for monitoring changes in total cholesterol and blood glucose, however further refinement is required prior to use in the fitness industry.