The introduction of home blood glucose monitoring in the late 1970s was instrumental in shifting the focus of the management of diabetes from doctors to patients.1 It is now a common view that patients are primarily responsible for the daily management of their diabetes, which includes self monitoring, at least in patients treated with insulin. The usefulness of self monitoring in patients with type 2 diabetes not treated with insulin is controversial, a debate that was recently fuelled by findings from the DIGEM trial.2

Two studies in this week's BMJ are related to optimising the treatment of type 2 diabetes.3 4 In the first, Peel and colleagues3 report the results from a longitudinal qualitative study of the views of patients with type 2 diabetes about self monitoring, using a repeat interview design. The authors rightly point out that the patient's view has been largely absent in discussions on self monitoring in type 2 diabetes. While self testing of blood glucose has the potential to empower patients, …