Summary of actions/responses to self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) reported to have been carried out for each immediate motive for monitoring
| Immediate motive | Actions/responses reported |
| Routine | Full range of actions/responses |
| Prior to, or following, a diabetes review or clinic appointment | No action, reactive actions, short-term actions |
| Know result will be at good/stable level | No action |
| To facilitate everyday lifestyle activities | Short-term actions, longer term actions |
| In response to physical symptoms | Full range of actions/responses |
| Higher level analytical motives | Higher level analytical responses |
Key to actions/responses:
No action: result might be documented but no further action taken.
Reactive actions: immediate action taken involving little thought, usually glucose/carbohydrate intake or the administration of insulin.
Short-term actions: some thought given to SMBG result and the required response; for example, carbohydrate intake or insulin taken with consideration of future energy expenditure.
Long-term actions: consideration of the type and level of action taken, rechecking the effect of actions, and consideration of future carbohydrate intake and energy expenditure over the rest of the day and possibly into the next.
Higher level analytical responses: movement beyond long-term thinking to questioning why blood glucose levels move to the levels they do, looking at results together in the context of life and lifestyle, and analyzing this over several days.