Pharmacy cholesterol test, how accurate?

naughtysmurf

Hope this is the correct forum....had my cholesterol tested this morning in a local pharmacy, pricked my finger, blood on a strip & a handheld reader produced a result in a couple of minutes, result was 5, which I was surprised by considering my lifestyle, just wondering how accurate they are. BP was 126/83, heart rate of 67 which was also surprising LOL

Thanks

Dingle_berry

Point of care testing devices are not the most accurate, precise or specific tests available. They are designed for rapid results with ease of use, to err on the side of caution (maximally sensitive) to pick up anyone who needs extra testing. Also things like applying too much sample or ambient temperature have been known to skew results.
The idea of them is that if your result is OK, it's very likely that you are OK. If your result is "abnormal" then you need to see your GP who will arrange more accurate testing.

Robroy36

You have approximately 10 days to live, spend them wisely.

endacl

Robroy36 wrote: »

You have approximately 10 days to live, spend them wisely.

I'd recommend taking them in august.

naughtysmurf

That's three days more than I thought I had so it's all good

Robroy36

endacl wrote: »

I'd recommend taking them in august.

I would recommend ringing UPC and querying a bill. That should get you down to about 4 days.

Vorsprung

I think we're done here, OP can PM me if they want to reopen